Article ID: CBB255600939

Ineluctably Us: Early Hominid Discoveries, Mass Media, and the Reification of Human Ancestors (2020)

unapi

Even as paleoanthropology becomes increasingly sophisticated in revealing both the broad contours and the details of the deep evolutionary history of Homo sapiens, it continues to be informed by lingering pre-evolutionary residues. Specifically, the goal of prior research was to demonstrate that the influence of the ancient Scala Naturae as an organizing principle significantly contributed to the scientific community’s delayed acceptance of Australopithecus (sensu lato) as a plesiomorphic member of the Hominidae. The present study extends this research through a selective examination of non-primary source material reporting on significant early hominid discoveries over the last century, beginning with Australopithecus africanus (1925) and ending with Ardipithecus ramidus (1995/2009). It is argued that these accessible sources reify to varying degrees the perception among the non-expert public that human beings are an inevitable culmination of the evolutionary process. This culturally transmitted schema of human exceptionalism continues to impact other life on Earth in profound ways, in some cases with calamitous results.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB255600939/

Similar Citations

Article Delisle, Richard G.; (2012)
Welcome to the Twilight Zone: A Forgotten Early Phase of Human Evolutionary Studies (/isis/citation/CBB001210165/)

Article Goulden, Murray; (2007)
Bringing Bones to Life: How Science Made Piltdown Man Human (/isis/citation/CBB000831461/)

Article Hochadel, Oliver; (2013)
Palaeoanthropology in the Periphery. An Introduction (/isis/citation/CBB001213573/)

Article Kjærgaard, Peter C.; (2014)
Inventing Homo gardarensis: Prestige, Pressure, and Human Evolution in Interwar Scandinavia (/isis/citation/CBB001420413/)

Thesis Schmalzer, Sigrid; (2004)
The People's Peking Man: Popular Paleoanthropology in Twentieth-Century China (/isis/citation/CBB001562107/)

Article Steve Fuller; (2019)
The Metaphysical Standing of the Human: A Future for the History of the Human Sciences (/isis/citation/CBB332228071/)

Book Schmalzer, Sigrid; (2008)
The People's Peking Man: Popular Science and Human Identity in Twentieth-Century China (/isis/citation/CBB000970011/)

Chapter Hochadel, Oliver; (2009)
Das Postergirl der Paläoanthropologie: Lucy zwischen Wissenschaft und Öffentlichkeit (/isis/citation/CBB001033080/)

Book Armond R. Towns; (2022)
On Black Media Philosophy (/isis/citation/CBB608692628/)

Book Charles Taylor; (2016)
The Language Animal: The Full Shape of the Human Linguistic Capacity (/isis/citation/CBB012775545/)

Article Pettitt, Paul B.; White, Mark J.; (2011)
Cave Men: Stone Tools, Victorian Science, and the “Primitive Mind” of Deep Time (/isis/citation/CBB001022767/)

Article Catalá Gorgues, Jesús I.; (2011)
¿Absolutamente sin cuidado?: Juan Vilanova y la polémica sobre el Hombre terciario (/isis/citation/CBB001450414/)

Article Corbey, Raymond; (2012)
Homo habilis's Humanness: Phillip Tobias as a Philosopher (/isis/citation/CBB001210309/)

Article Talairach-Vielmas, Laurence; (2013)
Extinction and Progress in Charles Kingsley's Alton Locke (1850) (/isis/citation/CBB001201777/)

Book Habibi, Don A.; (2001)
John Stuart Mill and the Ethic of Human Growth (/isis/citation/CBB000102296/)

Book Braden R. Allenby; Daniel Sarewitz; (2011)
The Techno-Human Condition (/isis/citation/CBB406991647/)

Authors & Contributors
Schmalzer, Sigrid
Proctor, Robert N.
Hochadel, Oliver
Zwart, Hub
Peeters, Susan
Armond R. Towns
Concepts
Definition of human; human nature
Paleoanthropology
Human paleontology
Human evolution
Physical anthropology
Human beings
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
21st century
20th century, early
20th century, late
Places
China
Great Britain
East Asia
Catalonia (Spain)
Spain
Scandinavia; Nordic countries
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment