Tag Archives: Catching Fire
Cognitive Evolution via Campfire Stories
A fantastic analysis of fireside conversations among Ju/’hoansi Bushmen collected over the course of four decades (1970s-2000s) was recently published by Polly Wiessner in PNAS Early Edition (“Embers of society: Firelight talk among the Ju/’hoansi Bushmen“—thanks to Daniel Lende & … Continue reading
Posted in Anthropology
Tagged Bushmen, Catching Fire, fire, fireside relaxation, fireside trance, Ju/'hoansi, Polly Wiesner
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Wrangham’s “Catching Fire” and Selection for Calmness
Several years back sociologist James McClenon speculated in a 1997 article in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion that selection for prosocial calmness took place in Homo erectus when they started manipulating fire. I took issue with this, … Continue reading
Posted in Hypotheses
Tagged Catching Fire, fire, fireside relaxation, James McClenon, relaxation, Richard Wrangham, trance
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