Prehistoric Inventions

[ysabetwordsmith]

Prehistoric inventions abound. Most of these are one-shot gizmos that one genius invented and other people copied, without modification, sometimes for millions of years.

It's not the occasional, isolated super-genius that uplifts a species.  It's the ability to produce multiple  genii close enough together that they can interact, which is how you get that explosion of innovation as other people try to mimic them at their own level of ability.

I have a flint flake tool on my desk that I found in my yard.  It's an ancient super-gizmo.  Doesn't look like much until you pick it up and realize that it can be held in several different ways, each activating a different area of the tool with a different use.  Kind of like a Swiss Army knife, but with no moving parts.  Impressive, and much harder to make than a simple flake.

The non-human species I've seen throw multiple genii?  Snow monkeys.  Imo invented the sand-free sweet potato and the quick-rice snack.  Someone else discovered the use of hot springs.  Someone else started riding deer, the first step in domestication.  When those sparks start appearing close together, you've got the makings of a species bootstrapping itself from lower to higher levels of sentience.  \o/

Comments

Re: Thoughts

[acelightning73]

I'm glad that the Chinese invented fireworks. I love to see the pretty colors in the sky! (And I love to see how modern pyrotechnicians have developed ways to make them prettier - new colors, new detonation techniques that form butterflies,heart shapes, and ringed 'planets" in the air. I left my time machine in my other pants, but if I'd known then what I know now, I'd have majored in chemistry or chemical engineering instead of physics, and I'd probably have become a pyrotechnician. (One of the guidance counselors who helped my son a lot when he was a troublesome child was a retired pyrotechnician. I never got a chance to sit down and chat with him, dammit.)Or maybe I'd have gone into food chemistry.