Wednesday 6 November 2013

Nicholas Humphrey: The Family that Walks on All Fours

This is a documentary called "The Family that Walks on All Fours". Nicholas Humphrey is the presenter. It presents evidence that relates to a theory that I covered in my 2011 book on Memetics - that the distinctively human bipedal gait is partly culturally-transmitted.

This is an important hypothesis for students of memetics, since it places cultural transmission at the origin of our species. Maybe memes were present in a big way from the beginning. Maybe memes contributed to human speciation via symbiogenesis.

The documentary covers a family with multiple individuals that never learned to walk. By the end of the documentary, a number of them learn to do so, via social learning. These individuals are mentally handicapped - but it still adds to the evidence on the topic from feral children.

Another family that Walks on All Fours has also been found.

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