A new study by Wiessner suggests that stories told over firelight helped human culture and thought evolve by reinforcing social traditions, promoting harmony and equality, and sparking the imagination to envision a broad sense of community, both with distant people and the spirit world, reports ScienceDaily. Wiessner analyzed the daytime and firelight conversations among !Kung Bushmen that live in Africas Kalahari Desert. These Bushmen use click sounds, perhaps the earliest form of human vocal language. We cant tell about the past from the Bushmen, Wiessner said. But these people live from hunting and gathering. For 99 percent of our evolution, this is how our ancestors lived. What transpires during the firelit night hours by hunter-gatherers? It helps answer the question of what firelit space contributes to human life. Wiessner found daytime conversations differed from firelight discussions. The daytime conversations were about complaints, regulating social relationships and economic matters. These conversations reinforced major !Kung social institutions, the kinship system and the sharing of food during times of hardship. At night the conversations involved stories about distant people and the spirit world. Such extended communities allowed humans to colonize our planet because they had networks of mutual support, which you see expressed today in our capacity for social networking, Wiessner adds. Humans form communities that are not together in space, but are in our heads — virtual communities. They are communities in our heads. For the Bushmen, they may be up to 120 miles away. Stories are told in virtually all hunter-gatherer societies; together with gifts, they were the original social media, according to Wiessner. The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. designntrend/articles/20102/20140924/african-firelight-spurred-social-cultural-evolution.htm?__scoop_post=2305c950-44a2-11e4-cc37-90b11c3998fc&__scoop_topic=1144128#__scoop_post=2305c950-44a2-11e4-cc37-90b11c3998fc&__scoop_topic=1144128
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 15:38:17 +0000
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