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We are the stories we tell ourselves (mander.xyz)

submitted 5 months ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[-] leftzero@lemmynsfw.com 42 points 5 months ago

The anthropologists got it wrong when they named our species Homo sapiens ('wise man'). In any case it's an arrogant and bigheaded thing to say, wisdom being one of our least evident features. In reality, we are Pan narrans, the storytelling chimpanzee.

— Sir Terry Pratchett, The Globe (The Science of Discworld, #2), 2002

[-] Gloomy@mander.xyz 8 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Thanks, I had to think of this one too.

GNU Terry Pratchett

[-] samus12345@lemmy.world 5 points 5 months ago

I always thought the "sapiens" came from "thinking", but I looked it up and it does come from wise! Homo cogitare would have meant thinking man.

[-] Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca 3 points 5 months ago

I have to vehemently disagree on Pan; at most Australopithecus. narrans is a banger name though, i really like that.

[-] lowleveldata@programming.dev 32 points 5 months ago

And fire. Fire is essential for story time.

[-] Reddfugee42@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

Especially spooky stories

[-] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 23 points 5 months ago

...and his dick was so big, Snake fell in love with it. And that's how the world was made. And that's why I wear this funny hat to keep us all safe.

[-] Zos_Kia@lemmynsfw.com 7 points 5 months ago

And that's why Josh is a dick and we need to banish him

[-] samus12345@lemmy.world 10 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

The more complex evolution makes a brain, the more likely animals are gonna do some weird shit with it.

[-] Pilferjinx@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

"Heard you like brains, so we've put brains in brains inside your brains. Good luck trying to find out why."

[-] anarchist@lemmy.ml 9 points 5 months ago

Currently reading "The Science of Storytelling" by Will Storr, it is quite good so far!

[-] nixcamic@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

Ah yes Mr. Storr, inventor of the Story.

[-] fossilesque@mander.xyz 2 points 5 months ago

I've got this on my tablet. It keeps getting recommended to me.

[-] anarchist@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 months ago

I finished it just there. First chapter and bits of later chapter are great, but unfortunately the rest of the book is poorly sourced. For a book with "science" in title, I was expecting more rigour.