Recent content by nkalanaga

Zz: Basic statistics. There are a finite number of particle types, and a finite number of particles in a human-mass object. Therefore, in an infinite universe, any possible combination of particles in such a mass will have to reoccur. If our universe is infinite, and the "missing"...

IF the universe is infinite, or IF there is a corresponding antimatter universe that is infinite, then every possible configuration of matter will have an antimatter counterpart. In that case, yes, somewhere there is an antimatter version of you. If this universe isn't infinite, or doesn't...

Stargazer3: To go with Ygggdrasil's comment on how long !Kung spend on hunting, I'm also going by comments from hunters I've worked with. If hunting was a difficult activity, I doubt that so many modern humans would do it for fun. Ygggdrasil's comments on population density in Neolithic...

Stargazer3: I suspect "easy food" was part of the reason. Any organism is lazy, in that it doesn't use more energy than needed. Farming is much harder work than hunting or gathering, assuming that the wild foods are plentiful. Basically, either one requires walking around with ones friends...

Turbo: I hadn't thought of that. I knew that beer and bread yeasts were basically the same varieties, but hadn't made the connection to leavened bread. Interesting thought. Chronos: The Toba eruption definitely had an impact, but the Ice Ages shouldn't have been an issue for humans in...

Cannabis doesn't have to be cultivated. It grows very nicely on its own. Also, the original wild variety really wasn't much good as a recreational drug. It would make you a little mellow, but that was about it.

Jeannvk: That's probably at least partly true, as every culture ever to develop grain-based agriculture made beer from the grain, and apparently from the very beginning of the culture. Not only is beer fun to drink, but brewing it sterilizes the (often unsafe) water, and the yeast adds...

Ygggdrasil: Your point about hunter-gather cultures being unable to support large populations is quite true, and actually fits with the theory I mentioned, which wasn't actually my idea. If relatively dense populations are required for rapid advancement, H-G societies would be incapable of...

Another theory I read recently was that the limit was population density. Hunter-gatherers lived in small, widely spaced groups, making it harder for new ideas to spread. Once the population density of an area reached a level where groups met frequently, rather than just through traveling...

A verbal ID would still be handy for someone using sign language, if for no other reason than to get the intended target to look in ones direction. "Hey You" would attract the attention of everyone in the group, so eventually a unique sound would be desirable for each person. It may not have...