In his tribute to Arthur C. Clarke, John Dennehy mentions the opening scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey [Goodbye Arthur C. Clarke]. That was a scene that made a big impression on me as well, although I was a good deal older than John when I first saw it. Here it is.
It still sends chills up my spine to see that scene. Also should give credit to the genius of Stanley Kubrick.
ReplyDeleteThe works of Clarke and Asimov were (and probably still are) very important to me growing up.
They are both missed...
Just a shame they used bones to signify the birth of tool technologies instead of stones.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it a shame that they used bones instead of stones? I don't see a reason why bones weren't used as early tools, any more than sticks or other whatever.
ReplyDeleteThe "moment" in that video is supposed to signify the moment ape-like creatures started to become human.
ReplyDeleteThe difference between humans and the shared ancestor of humans and chimpanzees is not tool use (we know chimps use tools, parsimony dictates our shared ancestor certainly did). The first step to "humanness" was manufacture of tools, and from wear marks and tool assemblages we now that sort of manufacture didn't use bones. As a raw material for fashioning tools bones came a lot later on in hominid evolution.