One needs a commitment to realize who they are. It requires an interest in many aspects of oneself, not the least of which is their ancestry. Thus, the central core of who you are is connected to a framework of ancestors –long before you existed.
We are hominins. Our ancestors were hominins. The defining quality of all hominins is being a primate with the ability to walk on two feet. Walking on two feet provided some survival advantages but the route of our ancestors’ walk was uncharted. We mortals did not plan our evolutionary course. It was random. If survival and continued existence of a species is winning, upon close scrutiny of the possible mechanisms of evolution, it appears that it is just by chance that there are winners and losers. As individuals wander, yesterday’s winners could be today’s losers. We ambulant wanderers may think we know the right course but, as always, the end game of human evolution depends on the chance of individuals having the right genome to survive.
There are many questions about our origins. You may wonder, when and where did Homo sapiens first appear. When did the races of human’s form? How far back does our hominin ancestors go? What did they look like? Were our ancestors alone or were there other hominins who coexisted with them? One objective of this book is to satisfy the reader’s curiosity about how we came to be.
Who are they? You will come to know the life and labor of these individuals and through them come to know the hominin fossil record.
To some, the names of the genera and species of the hominins that will be presented may seem daunting. They are in most instances a combination of Greek, Latin and African terms describing a variety of properties most of which designate the capabilities of the hominins or the location of their discovery. Fortunately, there are less than 35 species of hominins that have been identified and possibly only seven or so, which may be direct ancestors that existed over the last 3 million years. You will become appreciative of these hominins and how they fit into your ancestry
We humans are the only surviving hominin. If all past hominins other than Homo sapiens are extinct, then one may ask – what was their purpose? I like to believe that the reason our ancestors existed was for us to be here. From a solipsistic point of view —- there is no other reason. For some of us there is the feeling that the adoration of our ancestors is appropriate. At the least, most of us have a curiosity about the existence of our hominin ancestors. There is no doubt that our egocentric interest in ourselves is important to us, which can be deepened with a knowledge of our ancestors as far back as when hominins first evolved. When you read this book you will be able to understand and discuss hominin evolution. Importantly, after you read this book, you will be in a position to see how hominin evolution has impacted philosophical explorations of ethics and aesthetics
