NOVA - Evolution Ep 6 - The Minds Big Bang

"Show 6: The Mind's Big Bang
57 minutes, 8 DVD chapters

Chapter 1. Prologue (3:09)
Introduction to the show's theme: changes in human development and the birth of creativity
Searching French caves for early human paintings
The birth of the human mind and human expression

Chapter 2. Stone Age Tools (7:45)
Early tool-making and the evolution from hominid to human
Archeological research into hominid artifacts
Paleolithic hominids and their development of tools
The evolution of hominids and modern humans
Human migration out of Africa

Chapter 3. The World's First Beads (7:16)
Early modern humans using technology to express social identity
Excavating a Turkish cave, home for early modern humans
The discovery of 43,000-year-old beads, the oldest in the world
Migration of early humans across Europe
Beads as evidence of the mind's ""big bang"": humans' creative and cultural beginnings

Chapter 4. Neanderthals and Humans (7:07)
Technological and social differences between modern humans and Neanderthals
Description of Neanderthals, another descendent of hominids
Comparing Neanderthal and human burials; human use of symbols and art, while no evidence of Neanderthal symbolic life
Examining Neanderthal and human hunting tools
Human communication and expression, no Neanderthal equivalents

Chapter 5. Modern Humans and Art (2:49)
Exploring early modern humans' art and music
Studying cave art techniques
Why did early modern humans create this art?
Cave instruments and music

Chapter 6. Components of the Human World (7:31)
The evolution of the modern human brain
Biological changes in the brain and its wiring
Studying chimpanzees to understand human social behavior before the human mind's ""big bang""
Humans and a theory of mind; we can recognize and infer others' thoughts

Chapter 7. Language (11:41)
Language's importance to human relationships and culture
The critical window for learning language
Studying a new sign language in Nicaragua for parallels to early language development
The significance of syntax (rules) in all human languages
The evolutionary advantages of language

Chapter 8. Cultural Evolution (9:11)
Cultural forces surpassing biological forces in determining human evolution
Through behavior, humans copy and pass along memes (ideas, habits, skills) that are the building blocks of cultural evolution
Human ingenuity triumphing over biological evolution, with the examples of diabetes and insulin, near-sightedness and glasses
Changes in human lifestyle over the past 50,000 years have more to do with the evolution of memes, not genes"

Duration 56m37s
Resolution 640x352
Video format DivX
Audio format AC3
Language english
Subtitles 0