Origins of Modern Humans: Multiregional or Out of Africa? By Donald Johanson
Just reading through this article and taking into account the Toba eruption, and subsequent re-establishment of humankind, I can see possibilities of such an event and the resulting reduction/isolation of small populations resulting in drastic changes to society and behaviour..
Likewise, the "opportunities" for extended periods of introspection/contemplation concerning abstract concepts like "the meaning of life".. ( seriously.. the whole world goes dark and cold for 6 years, you're sitting in a cave trying to figure out how to keep warm by making your fire pit more efficient, and why this happened to you, of all people.. )
Resulting in use of art and symbolism, personal adornment, etc..
Again, more personal time to create specialized tools that allow more efficient utilization of time spent outdoors, ( in the cold ) gathering food.. ( find food, kill it / gather it, get back inside where the fire / warmth is.. )
Then there is the problem of inbreeding within small, close communities.. ( need for "trade" among communities includes women... new blood needed.. As well as trading locally available materials, or even ideas for survival.. )
Drastic changes in food resources, and the need to move to new areas to access them.. ( fishing becomes more common.. moving to seashore areas.. )
None of this seems to indicate any actual change in intellectual capacity however.. ( at least as I understood it..)
It seems to indicate a change in behaviour, which may have been caused by any number of influences, but from what I have read, the intellectual capacity was there for tens of thousands of years, then a sudden change is observed...
That indicates, at least to me, an outside influence..
Not so much a change in intellect, but in attitude..
Evidence is, man had the capacity for thought, but until something like Toba happened, intelligence was not considered as a desirable trait..
With survival suddenly on the line, ideas became a positive ( and necessary ) tool for survival..
Creativity and imagination became more than just an amusement..
Enough rambling thought for now..
Just my two cents..
Thanks.
My thoughts are that the only survivors would have been in the warmer areas on the earth...all others probably would have died.
"With survival suddenly on the line, ideas became a positive ( and necessary ) tool for survival."
Famine has propelled many an exodus and diaspora, even in relatively recent history. The Irish spring to mind.
I've seen self-selection, by virtue of willingness to migrate, put forth as an explanation for a number of things over the years. Take, for instance, the supposition of a more dynamic, adventurous, inventive and productive society in the United States, in comparison to "old" Europe. But, much of this can be explained, in my opinion, by a form of (classical) liberal governance that encouraged dynamism and inventiveness, rather than anything inherent in the people themselves.