In our Lascaux so far we have done tons of work. It started with a lecture on, "What makes us human?" Well what makes us human would take hours to explain in one talk so instead they just gave us an idea to get our minds flowing. That was definitely the purpose of this project along with learning about the Magdalenian people from the upper paleolithic era. They were very important because they created the Lascaux caves around 17,300 years ago, and were also the first living creatures to think in a way that is shown in almost everything we do today, art.
Our class is now taking all of the information we have learned and are putting it into 7 different brochures. There are 7 because each group in the class is making 1 to pass out during our exhibition. To make these brochures there are 4 writers, each with a different topic to write about. For example I am writer 4, along with 6 other people in my class. My topic is, What Makes Us Human. It is a very difficult but poetic topic to write about. There is also, The History of the Caves, The Magdalenians, and the significance of the Paintings. At the exhibition we will turn our entire classroom into the caves by making cave paintings out of crack filler and then hanging them on the walls. It will be amazing!
What I learned
Most may think that what makes us human is an easily answered question, who said it wasn't? But what does make us human? I can't help wondering. To answer this question we were to write a 5 paragraph essay. We haven't done it yet but to be prepared, I wrote and practiced it a while ago. This is what I came up with:
Well here's a big question: What makes us Human? Well yes, there is that we have the ability to speak, we have thinner, shorter, lighter hair than primates, and just our biology in general makes us different from animals, but aren’t all creatures different? After all that is why there are different species, but what makes humans so distinct from other species that some refuse to even call us part of the animal kingdom? If you think hard and dig deep into your mind, you’ll find that the truth is it is exactly that. Our brains.
Primates grow up so fast, but the question is, why don’t we? Well the answer is once again... our brains. Our brains are so complex, along with the world we live in that it takes more than double the amount of time for us to learn everything we need to live here than a typical primate. Therefore extending our childhood from eight years to eighteen! Humans need to be able understand technology, logic, common sense, and others emotions to be able to survive in the present day.
Other animals have emotions, there is no doubt about that, (proven many times when a soldier comes home and their dog is waiting to greet them with a big, slobbery kiss) but we, can understand, not only our own, but other peoples emotions. The average human needs it because if you don’t have empathy you can hurt someone’s feelings and they can react in a very violent way.HUMANS HAVE EMPATHY! Even babies do. If you smile at a baby the chances are they’ll smile back, that is because they understand! It may not exactly be empathy but it shows that they care! Once again, that helps us survive in this world. When we are babies we need that because our mothers aren’t there all of the time and we need to be sure we are taken care of. Everyone has had a babysitter at one point in your life. Whether it is your grandma or a stranger that lives down the street from you, it’s not your mom.
People have a way of expressing themselves in a way that no other creatures can. This is proven in Lascaux. A big milestone was the first creations of art and music. Even thousands of years ago we were thinking in a way that is unique to the human race. Animals can whine and whimper, but we can do something with those emotions and express them in a way that others can admire. Humans create beauty.
There is no doubt that the way we can think separates us most from other animals. For example fire, can dogs control fire? The last time I checked my dogs weren’t in the backyard making s’mores! Some think that fire is what influenced our social evolution. Waiting for food to cook around the campfire meant sitting with nothing else to do except be together. Eventually we started to talk to one another and families became one. That whole ability of controlling fire is one of the many things we take advantage of, and guess how we figured it out... that thing taking up so much space in your head, the human brain.
Now, I could go on and on about what makes us human. There is so many things that separate us from the animal kingdom. But just picture this: A lion deciding what to eat for breakfast, wearing a sweater, dancing and singing, writing or listening to music, on a computer and designing an app, praying over the bible, and doing a card trick. All of these are things humans can do, but still pretty hard to believe right? That is what makes us human.
Reflection
This project has so far been a great experience. I think that this project has been my favorite so far. Lascaux gets me exited to learn and inspires me to try my hardest and get the most out of this as I can. A challenge I did face in this project was writing too much. I got so lost in thought when I was writing my brochure piece that I ended up writing so much that I couldn't fit it in the brochure. My goal to solve this problem is to keep in mind and stick to the important information so I can give a short, yet detailed, piece that will blow the socks off of whoever decides to read it. I can't wait to get to start the next project and hopefully it will be just as fun!