I came across an interesting piece of information this week that gave me such a boost that I thought that I’d share it with you. I love science and technology, but don’t have a degree or doctorate in either. So I like to read science magazines. I occasionally read New Scientist and American Scientist, but since half of those particular publications are devoted to job columns, it seems rather a waste of money. Instead I opt for a slightly more eclectic and mainstream magazine: BBC Focus. I love it so much that I even bought a subscription, which for me is very rare. Anyway, I digress from the point of this post, which is to pass on an interesting piece of knowledge.
This month's Focus
This month Focus did an article on the evolution of hominids, titled ‘Last man standing ‘. The author examined the relationship between Homo sapiens, Homo erectus, Homo floresiensis and Neanderthals. Why did Homo sapiens survive and even thrive, when the others became extinct (or did they all? Read the article!). One of the reasons given was our ability to form special skills thanks to autism. It is believed that ASD’s were not present in the other groups of hominids and whilst the others stagnated from a cultural and technological perspective, the presence of ASD’s in Homo sapiens allowed greater diversity and progress in these areas (just look at the ‘Incredible Aspies’ post for evidence to support this). I was already aware of the role that ASD’s played in the evolution of man, but it was such a lift to learn about how important they might have been in humanity’s survival where others failed.
If you are interested, here is the BBC’s Focus website:http://sciencefocus.com/
And you can subscribe here: http://sciencefocus.com/subscribe
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