[ExI] Reason for religions, was riots

[Mirco Romanato]

Il 02/10/2012 16:29, spike ha scritto:
>
>> ... On Behalf Of Mirco Romanato
> ...
>
> http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/05/0503_050305_neanderthal.html
>
>> ... Trinkaus said. "I'm not saying they were having fights at the mouths of
> caves with the hyenas, but I'm sure there were plenty of times when the
> hyenas came and, not being stupid, the Neandertals said 'see ya later,
> guys.'"

> I would suggest to the contrary.  If we try to imagine the first use of
> tools in humans, we can imagine it being hurling rocks, not at prey but at
> hyenas.

Spike, Cave Hyenas were 100 Kg beasts, social, collaborative, maybe as 
smart as humans at the time and probably as much spiteful as them.

 From what I remember, canines are able to jogging as much as humans, 
horses and wolf/dogs, so there is no way humans could outrun them like 
they could do with lions, other felines, bison, antelopes, etc.

I would not pick a fight with them (and probably them would not pick a 
fight with humans) unless I have at least double warriors than them. And 
I would want a very good reason for doing so.

>  This would be effective if a pack of hyenas lived in a cave, which
> a group of humans wanted to occupy.  One could imagine how the good old
> opposable thumb would allow three or four sturdy lads to wield clubs,
> completely as defense weapons, back with a group perhaps thirty meters away,
> while a group of specialists hurled rocks at emerging hyenas at the mouth of
> the cave.  They would occasionally bean one of the toothy sons a bitches,
> but even if they didn't, the stones would accumulate at the mouth of the
> cave in such a way that the hyenas could not clear them away without risk of
> getting conked by some wannabe caveman.  Eventually the hyenas would need to
> abandon the site, at which time opposable-thumb-boy gets all his ammo back.

The problem is when thirty cave hyenas (every one weighting double than 
the thumbs-boys, faster than them, as much as enduring and equipped with 
sharp teeth and sharp minds) come out of the cave and charge in an 
organized way.

> So I contra-propose to Trinkaus that early humans did get into fights with
> hyenas at the mouths of caves.

If they were three at one and the place was very resource rich, maybe.


> This could explain how technology was jump
> started, for this notion would confer an advantage on those humans who could
> throw the straightest and hardest, as well as those who could plan ahead,
> make a sack of some sort, go collect a pile of rocks, store them at the site
> until you could get an arsenal together, then go get the sturdy lads, pump
> them with some kind of proto-religion memes about how they will be rewarded
> in some afterlife if you lose the upcoming battle in such a way that the
> hyenas tear you a new asshole.  Then let the fights begin.

I have some doubts.
The stuff about afterlife is too complicated for primitive humans.
Hell, Jews had not concept for soul (or devil) until they came back from 
Babylon with Zoroastrian memes. God rewarded them with physical 
punishments when they got out of line. For example, the rape of Dinah, 
daughter of Jacob is from some linked to the fact Jacob forgot to build 
an altar to god when he returned home twenty years after he promised to 
do so. After he run to built it.

Mirco