THE MAKING, THE RISE, AND THE FUTURE OF THE SPEAKINGMAN

Engineer Mrejeru presents a collection of scientific inquiries into the ongoing development of humankind.

Human evolution is the subject of this series of articles, originally published online. The first, “Making of the Speakingman,” from which the book gets part of its title, examines “two distinct stages” of the organization of the human brain and argues that it evolved due to “climate and geomagnetic” factors. The result was functional advancements brought on by bipedalism’s effect on neurological development, he says, which yielded the ability to manipulate fire. The book’s second part examines ancient human migration, exploring what caused prehistoric people to leave Africa. The answer, Mrejeru posits, lies with environmental factors as well as “neurogenesis bursts” that allowed for higher adaptability to new locations. The article also asserts that people ventured west from Africa into the Americas but left no lasting settlements. The result of all of these influences and changes is the emergence of a being whom the author calls “Homo loquens (the speakingman),” who, crucially, has the power to speak and understand speech. A later portion looks to the future, examining what it means for the continued development of Homo sapiensthat people have become more individualistic and less dependent on communities. Overall, these articles can often be dense for the lay reader; topics such as how “the ambient space in which are embedded more complex grammars,” for instance, can be tough going. The book also cites many academic papers that exhibit similarly complex academic language. Yet, for readers willing to dig further into the content, the book has numerous points of evolutionary intrigue that tackle fascinating questions: How did humans begin using fire? Is schizophrenia a “by-product of the complex evolution of the human brain”? What does it mean for the world at large that the “self-interested individual has difficulties taking collective action”? A careful reading provides much to think about from prehistory and beyond.

A sometimes-opaque but frequently engaging study.