Humans began to rapidly accumulate technological knowledge 600k years ago

Role of Language and Communication in Early Technology

• Several commenters link rapid tech accumulation ~600kya to emergence of sophisticated speech, though the article reportedly doesn’t discuss this.
• Others argue technology transfer need not be speech-driven: imitation, demonstration, and reverse‑engineering (e.g., reading undocumented code, scrap-yard tinkering) can spread techniques.
• Some suggest earlier non‑vocal languages (gesture/sign) could have predated speech; hyoid bone and hypoglossal canal evidence for timing of speech remains debated and ambiguous.
• A view emerges that high‑fidelity imitation plus some form of language likely drove cumulative culture, but causal ordering is unclear.

Writing, Records, and Cumulative Culture

• Debate over how old writing/record‑keeping might be; some speculate on very ancient, repeatedly lost systems.
• Examples like quipu and non‑textual tally systems show records need not be “writing” in the narrow sense.
• One participant formalizes a distinction:
  • Signals = energy over time to send messages across space.
  • Records = matter over space to send messages across time.
• Writing is seen as massively extending cultural memory, but not guaranteeing truth.

Reliability of Oral vs Written Knowledge

• Several challenge the idea that once you can transmit knowledge, it “always improves.”
• Cited counterexamples: loss of effective scurvy treatment despite records; preservation of myths and false beliefs blocking revision.
• Telephone‑game dynamics suggest oral traditions drift systematically, not randomly, and can morph into myth; writing at least preserves a snapshot of what was believed.

Thinking, Language, and Inner Experience

• Extended subthread: many report vivid inner speech; others say most thought is non‑verbal (visual, motor, abstract “mentalese”).
• Some describe a continuum: fast, non‑verbal intuition first, later “serialized” into words when needed.
• Aphantasia (no mental imagery) and lack of inner monologue are discussed; people compare different phenomenology using prompts like “imagine a ball on a table.”
• Disagreement whether anyone truly “thinks in words” vs. words being just a surface narrative over deeper processes.

Free Will and Determinism (Offshoot)

• From differences in inner experience, a subdiscussion arises:
  • One side argues behavior (thinking and feeling) is fully determined by stimuli, leaving no room for free will.
  • Others counter with compatibilist views, logical and epistemic objections, and the worry that denying free will is practically and ethically corrosive.
• Consensus: no; but recognition that the question is deeply under‑resolved.

Definitions: “Human” vs. Hominid/Hominin

• Article headline says “humans,” but paper reportedly uses “hominins.”
• Some argue “human” should cover all Homo species (e.g., Neanderthals, Denisovans); others reserve it for Homo sapiens only.
• Museums and popular materials often say “early/archaic humans” for other Homo species; disagreement remains about best usage.

Cumulative Technology, Printing Press, and Loss of Knowledge

• Some compare the 600kya inflection to later accelerations: e.g., printing press and Renaissance, though others note non‑European innovations and social structures matter.
• Discussion of how complex even simple modern tools are, and how many procedural steps and industries underlie items like pencils, toasters, and sandwiches.
• A few note that technologies can be “lost” (e.g., Moon landings, supersonic airliners) even when underlying principles remain, due to economics, tacit knowledge, and institutions.