There's lots of room to argue here with Margaret. What about my dog who is full of love and will stay by me forever, or what seems like forever and wait by my gravestone for my reappearance. And my horse with whom I am bonded for life, or other animal oddities that demonstrate compassion that belies elevation of the fittest. Or do we have still members of mankind who still follow the precepts of survival of the fittest and are they therefore cultually certified members of the animal world? Margaret was a Cultural Anthropologist so may not be interested in anatomy and embryological definitions but I am, and I see no pivot point here. There Is a pivot point culturally in that mankind's departure from the animal world in music, art, abstract thought and charity. On the other hand there may have been the seeds of these originally according to Wallace who suggested Intelligent Design . And then no need for a pivot point. Who knows?
Margaret Mead, the famous Anthropologist was asked to tell us when that pivot point happened when mankind emerged from the animal world. It had resulted from antecedent discussions about Darwin, Wallace, Christian ideas, Survival of the fittest, Altruism and the like. In particular she was asked what existing archaeological artifacts she was aware aware of that reflected the departure from the animal world that mankind may have made. You may, like me, question departure or emergence from that world. No anatomist or embryologist would see any separateness whatsoever today or in the past. Margaret Mead's choice of artifact was the archaeological find of a healed fracture of an adult femur. She said a fractured femur in an animal would lead to an early death. In the human with a fracture of the femur time for union takes a minimum of 12 weeks. Someone had to feed, clean the toilet material, protect, harbor and splint the leg of the human . That might be altruism and is not likely an example of survival of the fittest. There had to be an natural impulse to leave and look after oneself. That would be normal in the animal world. To stay and nurture, is that the pivot point?
There's lots of room to argue here with Margaret. What about my dog who is full of love and will stay by me forever, or what seems like forever and wait by my gravestone for my reappearance. And my horse with whom I am bonded for life, or other animal oddities that demonstrate compassion that belies elevation of the fittest. Or do we have still members of mankind who still follow the precepts of survival of the fittest and are they therefore cultually certified members of the animal world? Margaret was a Cultural Anthropologist so may not be interested in anatomy and embryological definitions but I am, and I see no pivot point here. There Is a pivot point culturally in that mankind's departure from the animal world in music, art, abstract thought and charity. On the other hand there may have been the seeds of these originally according to Wallace who suggested Intelligent Design . And then no need for a pivot point. Who knows?
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