Two legs, thing using and talking: The origins of the creative engineering mind

Instead of seeing technology as outside ourselves, it is argued that it is an innate human function and the main driving force in human evolution. Opportunistic 'thing using', long before stone tools appeared, was the likeliest cause of bipedalism. It also forced brain development and the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:AI & society 1998-09, Vol.12 (3), p.185-213
Main Author: Evans, F. T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Artificial intelligence
Brain
Creativity
Evolution
Human
Legs
Origins
Talking
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Summary:Instead of seeing technology as outside ourselves, it is argued that it is an innate human function and the main driving force in human evolution. Opportunistic 'thing using', long before stone tools appeared, was the likeliest cause of bipedalism. It also forced brain development and the emergence of creativity. The neural basis for this creative technical activity later provided the brain functions on which language could develop. This simple unifying hypothesis has interesting implications for the way that we see technology in history, and for determinist theories of the future. It also bears on the way engineers are trained, and more important, the human faculties which need to be fostered in children.
ISSN:0951-5666
1435-5655
DOI:10.1007/BF01206195