How was the first human born?
The "evolutionary gap" that science cannot yet answer
We humans all share a common "beginning."
However, how exactly was that "first person"—the very first human—born?
Tracing the theory of evolution, it is said that we evolved little by little from ape-men.
Yet, along the way, a major question arises that science cannot fully explain.
"At what moment did we become 'human'?"
There is a "gap" in human history that remains unfilled to this day.
■ The mystery of evolutionary continuity and the "boundary line"
Biological evolution does not change drastically overnight.
Changes accumulate "little by little" over a long period of time.
Naturally,a human child is not suddenly born from ape parents.
However, to speak of the beginning of humanity, a line must be drawn somewhere.
The concept born from this contradiction is the "missing link."
Scientists are still pursuing where this "boundary line" lies.
■ What does "human" refer to?
Here, a more fundamental question arises.
What criteria define "humanity"?
The ability to use language?
The ability to use fire?
The ability to make tools?
Or the ability to recognize that "I am alive"?
Neanderthals and Homo erectus used fire, cooperated with their peers, and hunted.
However, there was something decisively different about them compared to us, Homo sapiens.
Identifying this "difference" makes the definition of humanity even more complex.
■ The lineage of humanity and the "history of Homo sapiens" that is too short
According to the fossil record,
About 3 million years ago: Australopithecus
About 2 million years ago: Homo habilis
About 1.8 million years ago: Homo erectus
About 200,000 years ago: Homo sapiens (our direct ancestors)
Humanity has evolved through this progression.
However, what is surprising is that the history of modern Homo sapiens is only 200,000 years long.
Viewed against the 4.6 billion-year history of the Earth, it is truly a "blink of an eye."
■ How was the "first Homo sapiens" born?
Scientifically, it is explained as follows:
As a result of hundreds of thousands of years of accumulated mutations, the brain, skeleton, and language abilities developed, leading to the birth of Homo sapiens.
However, the problem starts here.
Where is the "first line" of Homo sapiens?
Are the parents human or not human?
How are intermediate beings defined?
Because of these questions, science cannot clearly identify the "first human."
■ Another possibility shown by genetics: "Mitochondrial Eve"
Here, an interesting hypothesis emerges.
That is **"Mitochondrial Eve."**
If we trace back the mitochondrial DNA passed from mother to child,
we arrive at "a single woman" who lived in Africa about 200,000 years ago.
Of course, she was not the only woman living at that time.
It simply means that she was the only one whose lineage happened to pass down genes to the present day.
In that sense, she is also called the **"first human in a genetic sense."**
■ What does philosophy ask about "what it means to be human?"
From a scientific perspective alone, there is still no answer.
Then, what about from a philosophical perspective?
The moment language was acquired
The moment fire was handled and culture was built
The moment love and death began to be understood
The moment one recognized oneself as "oneself"
Perhaps the birth of humanity was not
**the evolution of the physical body, but the moment consciousness was born within the mind.**
■ Science is still searching for the "origin"
DNA analysis, ancient genome analysis, fossil research—
despite all the progress in science, we still do not fully understand the "starting point of humanity."
However, the attitude of continuing to seek that answer
can be said to be the "most human evolution" of all.
■ The "desire to know" was the first evolution
The beginning of humanity was not just the moment the body changed.
It was the moment the heart and mind sprouted the desire to understand the world and keep asking questions.
That may have been our very first evolution.
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