Apr 25, 2022 04:53 PM
(This post was last modified: Apr 25, 2022 05:45 PM by C C.)
What Did Neanderthals Evolve From?
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sci...volve-from
INTRO: Experts suggest Neanderthals are our closest extinct relative. In many ways, we’re alike: We are both hunter gatherers who have mastered the use of stone tools and weapons. But experts also agree that we have our differences.
Those differences are seen in a split from a common ancestor more than half a million years ago. Still, the species that connects us has long eluded scientists.
Experts thought Homo heidelbergensis was the missing link — an early human species known to be the first to build shelters — but newer research has called this theory into question.
The age of H. heidelbergensis fossils revealed that some of the specimens were too young to be the common ancestor, says Chris Stringer, a paleoanthropologist at the London Natural History Museum. Rather, H. heidelbergensis was more likely a contemporary of modern humans and Neanderthals, not an ancestral link, says Stringer.
"Frankly, we no longer know where the ancestry of the Neanderthal lies," he says... (MORE - details)
Why does swearing make us stronger?
https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/why-does...-stronger/
KEY TAKEAWAYS: Repeating a swear word has been shown to dull painful sensations, as well as boost physical strength. Scientists still don't know the exact reason for this curious effect, but they theorize that profanity serves as a distraction, allowing us to ignore pain or push past physiological barriers. If you want to see if swearing helps in your own physical exploits, try using the "S-word" or "F-word," as these produced the best results in experiments...
EXCERPT: [...] So why does profanity augment physical ability? The obvious explanation, which Stephens initially explored, is that using foul language excites us, perhaps due to its culturally taboo nature. Alas, he did not see any measurable cardiovascular or nervous system arousal when subjects were swearing, with no clear changes in heart rate, skin conductance, or blood pressure.
Instead, the answer might be psychological.
“It may be that we are distracting ourselves when we swear, thereby decreasing our pain perception,” Stephens wrote in a recent opinion article along with Samford University Associate Professor Nick Washmuth. “It is possible that swearing-induced distraction produced the improved performance during the [cycling] and grip tasks, making it more tolerable to pedal hard and produce force while gripping."
Such distraction might be mediated through a disinhibiting effect. Swearing is generally discouraged, so doing it can be psychologically liberating, subconsciously allowing us to push past ingrained physiological barriers. After all, any athlete knows that physical fatigue exists as much in the brain as in the body... (MORE - details)
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Duh... It's still the "shock-value" of the words that would make them "distracting" compared to neutral words. And if pop culture marketing continues to undermine that via gratuitous overuse of profanity, then eventually the language becomes emotionally and provocatively inert via that constant and ubiquitous usage.
What would remain that still had massive shock-value is the various forms of "hate-speech", which would get anyone into vastly more trouble than accidentally saying "SoB" on the live broadcast of a children's radio show back in the late 1940s.
Essentially, there's a world full of idiots, especially paradoxical in academic circles fixated with social utopia idealism, who can't apprehend what the original purpose of taboo-based vulgarity was to begin with (a passive vocal substitute for instinctive venting via violent action), and accordingly are mindlessly subverting that function. Leaving only the most volatile word chemistry as a remaining option in the future, that is guaranteed to trigger personal life & career destroying consequences.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sci...volve-from
INTRO: Experts suggest Neanderthals are our closest extinct relative. In many ways, we’re alike: We are both hunter gatherers who have mastered the use of stone tools and weapons. But experts also agree that we have our differences.
Those differences are seen in a split from a common ancestor more than half a million years ago. Still, the species that connects us has long eluded scientists.
Experts thought Homo heidelbergensis was the missing link — an early human species known to be the first to build shelters — but newer research has called this theory into question.
The age of H. heidelbergensis fossils revealed that some of the specimens were too young to be the common ancestor, says Chris Stringer, a paleoanthropologist at the London Natural History Museum. Rather, H. heidelbergensis was more likely a contemporary of modern humans and Neanderthals, not an ancestral link, says Stringer.
"Frankly, we no longer know where the ancestry of the Neanderthal lies," he says... (MORE - details)
Why does swearing make us stronger?
https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/why-does...-stronger/
KEY TAKEAWAYS: Repeating a swear word has been shown to dull painful sensations, as well as boost physical strength. Scientists still don't know the exact reason for this curious effect, but they theorize that profanity serves as a distraction, allowing us to ignore pain or push past physiological barriers. If you want to see if swearing helps in your own physical exploits, try using the "S-word" or "F-word," as these produced the best results in experiments...
EXCERPT: [...] So why does profanity augment physical ability? The obvious explanation, which Stephens initially explored, is that using foul language excites us, perhaps due to its culturally taboo nature. Alas, he did not see any measurable cardiovascular or nervous system arousal when subjects were swearing, with no clear changes in heart rate, skin conductance, or blood pressure.
Instead, the answer might be psychological.
“It may be that we are distracting ourselves when we swear, thereby decreasing our pain perception,” Stephens wrote in a recent opinion article along with Samford University Associate Professor Nick Washmuth. “It is possible that swearing-induced distraction produced the improved performance during the [cycling] and grip tasks, making it more tolerable to pedal hard and produce force while gripping."
Such distraction might be mediated through a disinhibiting effect. Swearing is generally discouraged, so doing it can be psychologically liberating, subconsciously allowing us to push past ingrained physiological barriers. After all, any athlete knows that physical fatigue exists as much in the brain as in the body... (MORE - details)
- - - - - -
Duh... It's still the "shock-value" of the words that would make them "distracting" compared to neutral words. And if pop culture marketing continues to undermine that via gratuitous overuse of profanity, then eventually the language becomes emotionally and provocatively inert via that constant and ubiquitous usage.
What would remain that still had massive shock-value is the various forms of "hate-speech", which would get anyone into vastly more trouble than accidentally saying "SoB" on the live broadcast of a children's radio show back in the late 1940s.
Essentially, there's a world full of idiots, especially paradoxical in academic circles fixated with social utopia idealism, who can't apprehend what the original purpose of taboo-based vulgarity was to begin with (a passive vocal substitute for instinctive venting via violent action), and accordingly are mindlessly subverting that function. Leaving only the most volatile word chemistry as a remaining option in the future, that is guaranteed to trigger personal life & career destroying consequences.