I think we were doing it way before Sodom and Gomorrah … my favourite prehistoric sex mystery is what the details were of how we got Neanderthal DNA into our Homo Sapien genome … the most common theory is just rape but I’d like to imagine two star crossed young lovers that happen to meet each other in the savanna of post glacial Europe against their family’s and their community’s wishes. Their relationship would have been seen as a freak against nature to have someone from one species mating with another … and then embody that freaky relationship by having children. I like to imagine that they ran away with each other and lived a happy life with mixed children who went on to become our ancestors.
I always assumed they would consider different species to be about the same as different races or maybe even different tribes. They don’t know about genetics; who’s to say “hairy” isn’t just another skin color?
Huh that makes me wonder, how different even were the races within Homo sapiens during those days? I kind of always assumed that there wasn’t as much difference back then because the species hadn’t had much time to diversify yet, but no idea where that assumption comes from. Really should look it up
The lines between species don’t exist outside of our own minds. We simply make distinctions based on what our needs might be. If it’s tracing the prehistoric ancestry of humanoids, the “species” designations help us keep track of those peoples. If it’s reinforcing white supremacy, drawing harsh distinctions between different humans is very useful for legitimizing oppression.
This is actually bigger than evolutionary science, as all systems of understanding are fundamentally constructed. They’re all tools made by our brains to help us navigate a world of near infinite complexity. That doesn’t mean they aren’t useful, it just means that we must always be ready to change them. The scientific method will bring theory in line with reality eventually, as accurate understandings are generally more useful. However, there will always be unfortunate truths that people would rather ignore. Only by showing the value of a truth and providing space for it will that truth finally be accepted.
Why is the main theory rape? You really think humans would have qualms about fucking something non-human? Specially it they look pretty humanoid yo beging with?
When you have hunter and gatherer tribes living in the wilderness away from anyone else for years. Young individuals who want to be with someone will be very very frustrated as to who to mate with. Incest is one answer.
But if they happen to find new individuals of mating age … then there won’t be much choice for which people are going to paired with who.
Oh those venus figurines. There’s this moment in that Werner Herzog film “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” where he says of the paleolithic venus “There seems to have existed a visual convention extending all the way beyond Baywatch.” Herzog knows we always loved them thicc girls.
Humans been freakin’ it since Sodom and Gomorrah.
I think we were doing it way before Sodom and Gomorrah … my favourite prehistoric sex mystery is what the details were of how we got Neanderthal DNA into our Homo Sapien genome … the most common theory is just rape but I’d like to imagine two star crossed young lovers that happen to meet each other in the savanna of post glacial Europe against their family’s and their community’s wishes. Their relationship would have been seen as a freak against nature to have someone from one species mating with another … and then embody that freaky relationship by having children. I like to imagine that they ran away with each other and lived a happy life with mixed children who went on to become our ancestors.
I always assumed they would consider different species to be about the same as different races or maybe even different tribes. They don’t know about genetics; who’s to say “hairy” isn’t just another skin color?
Huh that makes me wonder, how different even were the races within Homo sapiens during those days? I kind of always assumed that there wasn’t as much difference back then because the species hadn’t had much time to diversify yet, but no idea where that assumption comes from. Really should look it up
The lines between species don’t exist outside of our own minds. We simply make distinctions based on what our needs might be. If it’s tracing the prehistoric ancestry of humanoids, the “species” designations help us keep track of those peoples. If it’s reinforcing white supremacy, drawing harsh distinctions between different humans is very useful for legitimizing oppression.
This is actually bigger than evolutionary science, as all systems of understanding are fundamentally constructed. They’re all tools made by our brains to help us navigate a world of near infinite complexity. That doesn’t mean they aren’t useful, it just means that we must always be ready to change them. The scientific method will bring theory in line with reality eventually, as accurate understandings are generally more useful. However, there will always be unfortunate truths that people would rather ignore. Only by showing the value of a truth and providing space for it will that truth finally be accepted.
Same, I should too lol
Why is the main theory rape? You really think humans would have qualms about fucking something non-human? Specially it they look pretty humanoid yo beging with?
When you have hunter and gatherer tribes living in the wilderness away from anyone else for years. Young individuals who want to be with someone will be very very frustrated as to who to mate with. Incest is one answer.
But if they happen to find new individuals of mating age … then there won’t be much choice for which people are going to paired with who.
I don’t think it’s that complicated my guy. People nowadays want to fuck aliens. People back then probably wanted to fuck other humanoids too.
Oh of course, it goes back much farther than that. Sodom and Gomorrah are just the standard bearers in western history for freaky sex.
The whole history when you look at it from the grand scale of geologic time just makes our modern morality and conservatism so absurd
Our whole ideas of sex, sexuality and sexual activity is far, far older and makes you realize that we are all just wired that way.
Look at the archaeological evidence of prehistoric ‘Venus’ dolls from our deep prehistoric past that is tens of thousands of years old.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_figurine
Oh those venus figurines. There’s this moment in that Werner Herzog film “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” where he says of the paleolithic venus “There seems to have existed a visual convention extending all the way beyond Baywatch.” Herzog knows we always loved them thicc girls.