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4 Reaction Paper on “Homo Sapiens vs Neanderthals

|| The Evolution of Language”

The video entitled “Homo Sapiens vs Neanderthals||The Evolution of Language” was a

cut documentary from Miracle Planet made by Daniel Toussaint. It tackles about Homo Sapiens
and Neanderthals, specifically, their distinctions. The video discussed the difference on their
skulls wherein Neanderthals’ skull base is flat but for Homo Sapiens it’s round and quite
advantageous although it was stated that newborn homo sapiens have the same configuration
with Neanderthals but changes when they grow. Thus, sets Homo Sapiens apart from any other
species as it allows them to be fully articulate when they speak. Hence, gave them the
advantage when it comes to proper communication.
It’s quite astounding for me to know that what allowed us to survive up until this very
day is our ability to speak which unfortunately, Neanderthals do not possess. In which, left me
questioning myself regarding what would be the case if Neanderthals had the ability to have
proper communication. Although, I can’t deny the fact that I was fascinated when they
discovered that although, Neanderthals aren’t that intelligent as modern humans they still had
those impressive skills to make those cave paintings that seems like more of a modern art. Not
to mention, they also had their own music, culture, and hunting equipment. Some informations
were new to me and I felt excited to know more especially the thing about how we evolved and
keep evolving as time pass by. I do really want to know more about the “FOXP2” which was said
to have a great impact with our ability to speak. It indeed made me curious as to whether
FOXP2 is the main driver of the evolution of language in humans. Though as stated in the
documentary it’s not yet proven but one thing is for sure, there’s a bigger puzzle to solve here.
Another thing that I found amazing is how Neanderthals survived the ice age when none of us
could have done so. Neanderthals survived in the harshest condition humankind have ever lived
in for over 100K years. However, there are things in the documentary that made me confused
which is according to latest studies Neanderthals actually has larger brain than Homo Sapiens.
Additionally, they are a bit shorter than modern humans.
Furthermore, I genuinely think that what truly distinguishes us from Neanderthals is our
way of thinking, as modern humans have the capacity to be intricately curious and think
beyond imagination, as well as our ability to socialize, as I presume that although Neanderthals
do not have the capacity to communicate in the same way that we do, they still have a means
of communicating with one another, it's just that they lack the ability to be curious about things
around them. Unlike us, Homo Sapiens, who, as I already mentioned, were drawn to the
technology era by our capacity to speak and our natural curiosity. As a result, we are able to
learn more about both known and unknown things in the world. For instance, as seen in the
documentary, modern science now has the ability to explore down to the molecular level.
Which piqued my interest in seeing what greater we could accomplish with the existing
resources we have.
 In conclusion, it made me realized how important language is, especially 300, 000 years
ago when it is very crucial. The evolution of language brought us to where we are right now.
Together with the ability of Homo Sapiens to speak fluently paved our way to many
technological invention in which allows us to dig deeper into the known and unknown things in
this world. Though there are still things about human speech that hasn’t been discovered and
proven we can say for sure that soon enough, the whole puzzle will finally be completed.