The Sons of Ice and Daughters of the Sun

The following is a summary of a comprehensive dAilogue that explores the effects of learning to be human in unimaginably different climates for an unimaginably large number of generations. It provide an alternative explanatory dynamic that fits the facts of civilization, history, and religion. For the source: https://davidboulton.com/dailogues-2/gai-ice-age-1/

G-Ai: This hypothesis posits that during the Pleistocene epoch, spanning roughly 2.6 million years, human populations diverged into two distinct groups:

Human-I: Populations adapted to living within the harsh conditions of glacial environments (inside the ice).
Human-O: Populations adapted to living in more temperate, non-glacial regions (outside the ice).

These two groups faced drastically different environmental pressures, leading to the development of distinct physical, cognitive, and behavioral adaptations over thousands of generations. These adaptations were passed down through both genetic and cultural inheritance, resulting in two fundamentally different ways of being human.

Human-I populations, facing limited resources and harsh climates, likely developed a collectivist orientation, prioritizing cooperation, resource sharing, and social cohesion. Their cognitive processes might have emphasized practicality, spatial reasoning, and long-term planning.

Human-O populations, inhabiting more diverse and abundant environments, likely developed a more individualistic orientation, valuing autonomy, competition, and adaptability. Their cognitive processes might have favored social intelligence, communication skills, and creative problem-solving.

During interglacial periods, when the ice receded, these two groups would come into contact, leading to cultural exchange, interbreeding, and the emergence of hybrid populations (Human-IO). These interglacial periods were relatively short, accounting for less than 0.4% of the past 2.6 million years. However, they played a crucial role in shaping human history, as the commingling of I and O populations is hypothesized to have contributed to the rise of early civilizations.

The convergence of I and O groups in regions like Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and the Nile Valley may have created a fertile ground for innovation and societal development. The exchange of knowledge, skills, and technologies between these groups could have accelerated the development of agriculture, urbanization, and complex social structures.

The hypothesis suggests that the unique characteristics of each group contributed to the success of early civilizations. The collectivism and resourcefulness of human-I populations, combined with the adaptability and innovation of human-O populations, may have created a synergistic effect that fostered the emergence of complex societies.

This hypothesis is supported by various lines of evidence:

Anthropological and archaeological findings: These reveal patterns of migration, cultural exchange, and technological development that align with the I/O theory.
Genetic studies: These show distinct genetic markers associated with populations adapted to different climates, supporting the idea of divergent evolutionary paths for human-I and human-O populations.
Linguistic analysis: The structures and vocabularies of different languages can reveal traces of the distinct cultural and environmental experiences of their speakers, potentially reflecting I and O influences.

However, it’s important to acknowledge that this hypothesis has its limitations. It’s a simplification of a complex historical process, and other factors like geography, resource availability, and chance events also played significant roles in the emergence of civilizations. Additionally, more research is needed to fully understand the genetic and cultural legacy of I and O populations in modern humans.

Nevertheless, the I/O hypothesis offers a compelling and novel perspective on human history, highlighting the importance of long-term environmental and evolutionary processes in shaping our societies and cultures. It challenges us to reconsider traditional narratives about the rise of civilization and encourages a more nuanced understanding of the complex interplay between nature and nurture in human development.

Major works that touch upon relevant themes, but not directly addressing the I/O hypothesis:

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond: Explores the role of geography and environmental factors in shaping the development of different societies.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari: Examines the major transitions in human history, including the cognitive revolution and the agricultural revolution.
The 10,000 Year Explosion by Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending: Argues for the importance of recent evolutionary changes in shaping human history.

By integrating insights from these and other works, the I/O hypothesis could contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the complex forces that have shaped human civilization.

The above is a summary of a comprehensive dAilogue that explores the effects of learning to be human in unimaginably different climates for an unimaginably large number of generations. It provide an alternative explanatory dynamic that fits the facts of civilization, history, and religion. For the source: https://davidboulton.com/dailogues-2/gai-ice-age-1/

Post Script

7-3-24: High-altitude cave used by Tibetan Buddhists yields a Denisovan fossil – “…the Denisovans had occupied the cave regularly for at least 100,000 years, meaning they were surviving at altitude during both of the last two glacial cycles.” “…the Denisovans were present on the Tibetan Plateau as recently as 30,000 years ago.” “The Denisovans lived in a harsh, high-altitude climate over two distinct glacial periods, indicating that they were very adept survivalists. And it appears that they passed at least one of the things that helped them handle the altitude on to the present-day inhabitants of the Tibetan Plateau.”

7-31-24: How did Neanderthals disappear? New DNA analysis sheds light on the mystery The scientists discovered that the percentage of Homo sapiens DNA in the Neanderthal genome may have been as high as 10% more than 200,000 years ago and decreased over time; on average, it was 2.5% to 3.7%. A similar study published last year had identified genetic traces of an encounter between the two groups around 250,000 years ago but the contribution of Homo sapiens DNA to Neanderthals around 100,000 years ago is a novel finding, said Laurits Skov, a geneticist and postdoctoral researcher at University of California Berkeley.

9-12-24: Ancient DNA Reveals Neanderthal Group Was Isolated for 50,000 Years – How can we imagine populations that lived for 50 millennia in isolation while they are only two weeks’ walk from each other?”

9-17-24: We May Have Found Where Modern Humans And Neanderthals Became One “The border areas of two realms are important in biology since they operate as refugia for species from glacial environments,” Guran and team explain. It may have even been such shifts in climate conditions that drove both species closer together, increasing their interactions.

9-27-24: Were Neanderthals Even More “Human” Than Us? “we can now say with confidence that Neanderthals were just as “human” as Homo sapiens. “

10-25-24 Human Prehistory and the First Civilizations (Great Courses) “what is the most striking difference between archaic and modern humans? It isn’t our anatomy, it is our cognitive abilities” Lecture 7 https://tinyurl.com/285pwm9f (22;27) “The issue of issues isn’t the spread of humans, its the spread of cognitive abilities” Lecture 8 https://tinyurl.com/285pwm9f (9:08)

10-31-24 A Girl Whose Parents Were Two Different Species: Until 2018, scientists had only studied 23 ancient human specimens. Of those, only two were the results of interbreeding, which lead experts to believe that it was rare. But perhaps they were wrong. “Neanderthals and Denisovans may not have had many opportunities to meet. But when they did, they must have mated frequently – much more so than we previously thought” https://tinyurl.com/2dar584h

11-9-24 New insights into the Denisovans—the hominin group that interbred with modern day humans: Several Denisovan populations, who likely had an extensive geographical range from Siberia to Southeast Asia and from Oceania to South America, were adapted to distinct environments. It’s a common misconception that humans evolved suddenly and neatly from one common ancestor, but the more we learn the more we realize interbreeding with different hominins occurred and helped to shape the people we are today. Scientists have uncovered evidence of at least three past events whereby genes from distinct Denisovan populations made their way into the genetic signatures of modern humans.

11-14-24 New DNA evidence finds that Neanderthals didn’t go extinct This is the first time geneticists have identified multiple waves of modern human-Neanderthal admixture. For the vast majority of human history, we’ve had contact between modern humans and Neanderthals. Until the Neanderthals disappeared, for about 200,000 years, modern humans interacted with Neanderthal populations.

Inherited Learning Biases