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Replying to post 75 by mgb]
Questions concerning intelligence, creativity, mental states, music, evil, character traits, art, literature, religion, genius, insight and intuition etc are far more convincingly explained in terms of onthology and being. The background to all these things seems to stand apart from mere physical determinism. That a mind is a living, conscious entity that exists in a spiritual order of things is a far better and more coherent explanation for the higher things of the mind. Human beings don't seem to be just an accidental outcome of survival mechanisms. Philosophy and religion strongly suggest that there is a non physical order of being and this order is outside our minds and available to consciousness.
But how do you make such a scenario consistent with what we do know about the evolutionary path leading to modern humans? We know that at some point in the past, in the 6-10 million year time frame, that nothing resembling a modern human existed on this planet. Therefore, neither did the intelligence, creativity, art, literature, etc. that is observed with modern humans.
Then, for whatever reason, a group of apes diverged that were a little smarter, with slightly larger brains, and some crude tool making capabilities. They had none of the capabilities of modern humans in terms of art, literature, music, etc., but the process of increasing brain size and complexity, and increasing levels of intelligence and thought capabilities, continued until
Homo erectus appeared.
These guys were highly successful and by the end of their period resembled modern humans much more than apes (in physical appearance), and were smarter still. Other species were probably around as well with similar characteristics, and about 300,000 years ago the first
Homo sapiens appeared (based on the recent Morocco findings). Brain size and structure had reached nearly modern levels, but there was still no ability to create art, music, or things like this that may require higher level cognitive capabilities. Or at least no evidence of such capabilities has been found.
So the brain itself appears to have reached roughly modern levels in terms of structure and size a few hundred thousand years ago, but the higher level creative abilities you mention didn't arrive until much later. The development of complex language no doubt was a major advancement, and it was a measly 5,500 years ago (or so) when humans finally figured out a system of writing. But the earliest records we have of art (cave paintings, figurines), music, etc. is about 35,000 years ago, ballpark, despite a brain not much different than our own having been around for some 200,000 years or more prior.
If a supernatural being of some sort was involved in this process, why did it proceed so haphazardly over such a long period of time? It appears to have all the hallmarks of "just an accidental outcome of survival mechanisms" that played out over a long period of time, only relatively recently leading to abilities in art, literature, music, etc. Maybe it was the development of language that jump started the "great leap forward", and that ability allowed for exponential advances in the creative department, so that we have all of the rich achievements in those areas that we do have today. But it seems to me that if a god or supernatural being was involved in the process, it would have proceeded much differently ... like a sudden poofing into existence of fully-formed humans capable of such creative things as some religious texts describe. But that is not how it happened.