God as the source for man's creative explosion

quote:

---

Soffer suggests that changes in social relations, such as development of the nuclear family, played a key role in bringing about the transformation.

---

quote:

---

Klein, on the other hand, proffers the notion that it was probably a biological change brought about by mutations that played the key role in the emergence of behaviorally modern humans. His biologically based explanation implies that a major neural reorganization of the brain resulted in a significant enhancement in the manner in which the brain processed information.

---

sourceI would like to propose the infamous, God did it, explanation for this “creative explosion”(CE). This CE seems like a good candidate for us, humans, receiving our spiritual component, the soul. Could this be God’s method of creating us “in his image”?I would like to discuss other people’s theories on the source of this CE and/or read support for either Soffer or Klein’s theories.I would like to avoid the simple smartass comments like “What is this soul thing you’re talking about?” or “That’s easy, Principle of Parsimony, just leave God out of it.”I just think its interesting and because I accept that our species evolved and I believe that we have a soul, I think there has to be some point on our evolutionary pathway where we were separated from the rest of the homonids, not only physically or behaviorly but spiritually as well.

Social Issues and Creation/Evolution please.

I don't like Soffer's because it seems like a goalpost movement. The question is moved to "why the social change?" Basically they are just saying that a social change played a key role but it doesn't really answer much.The problem with Klein's is stated in the article.

quote:

---

This is a difficult hypothesis to test since brains do not fossilize. But it is significant that no changes are seen in the shape of the skulls between earlier and later Homo sapiens./ (empahsis added) It can only be surmised from the archaeological record, which contains abundant evidence for ritual and art, that these Upper Paleolithic/Late Stone Age peoples possessed language abilities equivalent to our own.

---

I also find them inadequate becuase they don't mention the soul

I'd like to hear form people who believe in the soul about wether or not this CE looks like it could be the result of the soul, or some interaction from god and how it fits with others belief and the bible.I'd like to hear from people who don't believe in the soul about possible natural explanations in addition to or support for the two I pasted. I said that I found it interesting and just stopping it at we don't know isn't any fun, I'd rather explore some of the possibilities with others. I don't really care about that. Well, other than 'because the bible tells me so' and that it seems blindingly obvious from our civilization, I thought this part suggested some kind of importance to the CE

quote:

---

The stunning change in cultural adaptation was not merely a quantitative one, but one that represented a significant departure from all earlier human behavior, reflecting a major qualitative transformation.

---

Well, I got two ways of looking at it.When the Bible says we were made in god’s image, I don’t take it to mean that we have the same physical form. I think it is referring to some spiritual common that we have with god, and the breath of life parallels that view. So, god is a creator, and we have creativity and we share a common spiritual aspect (our soul), this leads me to think that maybe the soul is a source for our creativity.Another thing I look at is that we behave differently from the other animals and have abilities beyond theirs, this coupled with me feeling like I do have a soul, leads me to believe that god did give us something that the other animals didn’t get (the soul). Like I said earlier, I also think its obvious that our species evolved from a common ancestor with the other modern apes. So, somewhere along the line we had to receive a soul (get the breath of life) and after that thinking comes the reading of this creative explosion, so this lead me to think that maybe they were the same event.

It seems like this would be an easy thing for nature to select for too, spreading the problem over several brains would definately have its advantages. Neoteny in other species seems limited to physical charateristics. Be it flightless birds resembling the chicks of flying birds, or that salamander species that retains its gills through adulthood. It seems odd that our species would have some kind of social neoteny that should still be considered 'neoteny' but I understnad where Morris is comming from and it is a plausible idea. As much as socializing the child depends on brain development, I think brain development depends on socializing the child. This, too, would be easy to select against as children who were not socialized well would be lack some developed.

Thanks. I saw the tag line before I picked the forum. It read to me as a suggestion and not a requirement, but I really just didn’t want to limit this to a scientific discussion and none of the other forums fit better than Social Issues. Yes, you are. I feel that god did create that unique spark you’re talkin-bout. I wasn’t specifically looking to verify any arguments, I just saw this article and thought that it sounded like god had his hand in this one. Plus, before I read the article, I already thought that there should be some point somewhere in our past where that spark . um, sparked. Then I read this article and thought that this could be it. I’m just looking for other peoples thoughts and opinions on it. Of course, we could always just debate the philosophical arguments anyways. I’ve had that discussion on this website before and that is not what I’m looking for. I wanted to talk specifically about the creative explosion mentioned in the article.As far as the other stuff you wrote, it shows that you’re mature and wise and have some respectable beliefs.

Well, more like it was with the advent of the soul that humans were imparted culture. Got any ideas for a cause of the acceleration of culture uptake? This coul very well be true and still be the result of us receiving the soul. I would say that they (Neandertals) did have religion, in some rudimentary form. Nothing really oranized like we have today, but definately some beliefs in non-naturalistic causes of things they didn't understand. My belief is that we are the only animals with souls. The Bible says that we were created in god's image, gave us the breath of life, he gave us rule over the other animals, and he took our form(Jesus) to save us specifically. To me it really seems like I have a soul and I think I can feel it, although its kinda weird and hard to describe. And on top of that, I see no indication that any of the other animals have a soul. Yeah, I think it does. And I don't recall any teachings of Jesus that suggest that other animals have souls.