00:00There is an extraordinary place in Ethiopia, in the eastern region of Africa, known as Hadar.
00:07This place is a real archaeological treasure, we have discovered an abundance of fossils of ancient animals.
00:13And among these remains is an exceptional discovery.
00:17The fossils of a creature called Australopithecus afarensis.
00:22One of these specimens has been found almost intact.
00:25You may know it today under the name of Lucy, in tribute to an emblematic Beatles song.
00:31Lucy was a small creature, barely measuring the height of a bar stool.
00:35She lived about 3.2 million years ago and became a world celebrity at the time of her discovery.
00:41In 1974, she greatly contributed to our understanding of our most distant ancestors.
00:47Creatures called Australopithecus.
00:50About 10 to 12 million years ago, a group of animals split into two distinct branches.
00:55One evolved towards modern monkeys, while the other led to the appearance of humans.
01:00This divergence occurred because a group chose to remain in the trees,
01:04evolving to become what we now call gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans.
01:10These primates moved using their four limbs and inhabited the forests.
01:15The other group, on the other hand, opted for a terrestrial life and tried to walk on two legs.
01:20As a result, the size of their brains gradually increased over time.
01:25And after millions of years, they became imbecile primates watching videos on YouTube.
01:31Yes, it's about you.
01:34Lucy, like the other Australopithecus, was somewhat different from us.
01:38She still looked like a monkey and lived during a transition period.
01:42She could walk on two legs, but she didn't do it all the time.
01:46Sometimes, she climbed trees, just like a chimpanzee.
01:50She and her companions represented the first steps of human evolution.
01:54Then, a new branch of evolution appeared.
01:57The Homo habilis, or skillful man.
02:00They were the first members of the Homo genus because they were pioneers in the development of stone tools
02:05and in the first manifestations of human creativity.
02:09They probably used these tools to look for and prepare their food.
02:14The first clues of their existence were discovered in the 1960s.
02:18The Homo habilis traveled through East Africa about 3 million years ago.
02:22They were small, measuring about 1.40 meters in height.
02:27They no longer climbed trees and mainly moved on the ground.
02:31The shape of their skulls already resembled ours, unlike the pear-shaped skulls of Australopithecus.
02:37This is explained by the larger size of their brains.
02:40After them, the Homo erectus, or skilled man, appeared.
02:44The latter lived between 2 million and 70,000 years before our era.
02:48The name suggests that it was the first species of hominid to walk on two legs almost permanently.
02:54They were also the first to migrate out of Africa, thus spreading through Asia and Europe.
03:00And this is where we have seen a real advance.
03:04The representatives of Homo erectus had even more developed brains
03:08and learned to create more and more sophisticated tools.
03:11They developed the first axes and other hammers,
03:14using stone splinters as blades and gratings.
03:18They probably exploited various materials,
03:21wood, bark, and even grass to make the first ropes.
03:25With all this, they learned to hunt large animals,
03:29and the most often in groups.
03:31They were also the first to master fire, which transformed our history forever.
03:36Over time, other species of the Homo genus emerged,
03:40including the famous Neanderthal man, known for its European roots.
03:44They distinguished themselves from our common ancestor nearly 400,000 years ago.
03:48Although we shared a common ancestor, we did not evolve from the Neanderthals.
03:53They constituted a distinct branch.
03:56All Neanderthals have disappeared,
03:58but our evolutionary branch has coexisted with theirs for a very long time.
04:02The Neanderthals were ingenious and hunted both terrestrial and marine creatures.
04:07They left behind them thousands of stone tools and even decorated caves with their paint.
04:13They also practiced their own rites and began to bury their dead.
04:18They had to notice that leaving the bodies in the open
04:22favored the propagation of diseases and attracted the carnivores.
04:26However, they also manifested a certain affection through their funeral rituals.
04:32Then, it was the turn of the Archaic Homo Sapiens.
04:36They lived from about 500,000 to 200,000 years ago,
04:40emerging in Africa as well as in Europe.
04:42It was the last step between our ancestors and our modern species,
04:46that of the Homo Sapiens.
04:48The brain did not stop growing.
04:50Also, our ancestors began to exhibit more complex behaviors,
04:55not only burials and stone tools,
04:58but also elaborate hunting tactics and manifest planning efforts.
05:03They probably had a diversified diet, combining hunting and gathering.
05:08And finally, we have reached the Anatomically Modern Homo Sapiens.
05:12Appeared about 200,000 years ago in Africa,
05:15they had a skeletal structure and a brain similar in size to that of contemporary humans.
05:20Their behavior was quite similar to ours.
05:23They had complex social structures and began to think abstractly.
05:29After leaving Africa about 60,000 years ago,
05:32they spread around the world,
05:34finally replacing other dominated species, such as the Neanderthals.
05:38They began to imagine the first languages and form their first words.
05:42These were probably rudimentary, such as
05:45A, to call someone,
05:47or
05:48Ma, to designate a baby.
05:50After evolving towards our final stage,
05:52we have progressed rapidly in our cultural and technological development.
05:56This development has been particularly accelerated over the last 200,000 years.
06:01About 12,000 years ago,
06:03the Neolithic period, also known as the Stone Age, began.
06:08It marked the end of an ice age,
06:11and humans began to live in sedentary villages,
06:14instead of leading a nomadic existence.
06:17This change was made possible by the advent of agriculture,
06:20allowing men to grow plants and raise animals such as goats and sheep.
06:26The first humans also learned to domesticate some animals,
06:29such as shepherd dogs for the herd.
06:32We have also created the first works of art,
06:34leaving famous drawings in many caves,
06:37handprints, representations of animals,
06:40mainly cattle, hunting scenes, and many others.
06:44We have also invented the first form of currency,
06:47clay tokens for transactions.
06:49This marked the beginning of trade and the use of money.
06:53Finally, we started writing,
06:55thus allowing the recording and transmission of events through archives.
06:59This is when their story officially began.
07:03From that moment on, we have witnessed the development of agriculture,
07:07the emergence of complex societies,
07:09the invention of writing and art,
07:12as well as the emergence of great civilizations.
07:15Our tools have become more and more perfected,
07:17languages have emerged,
07:19leading to the diversity of cultures and societies that we observe today.
07:23So, why have we stopped evolving?
07:26The truth is that we have not stopped doing it.
07:29Human evolution is a continuous process,
07:32although it is no longer as spectacular as in the past.
07:35We adapt to various environments,
07:37presenting skin tones,
07:39appearances and different sizes,
07:41as well as genetic mutations capable of influencing characteristics,
07:45such as lactose tolerance or resistance to certain diseases.
07:49However, the world in which we live today is very different from that of our ancestors.
07:54We no longer suffer as much thanks to our technological,
07:57cultural and social structures that we have developed.
08:01Thus, evolution has slowed down,
08:03noting that our current lot suits us very well.
08:06What we are experiencing now is a cultural evolution,
08:09rather than a physical evolution.
08:11In addition, 200,000 years represents a fairly short period on the scale of the universe,
08:16or even of our planet.
08:18We should observe what will happen to us in a few hundred thousand years.
08:22We will no longer be there to see it,
08:24but there are several theories on this subject.
08:27An idea would be that in the future,
08:29humans and machines could merge into a single super-entity.
08:33We call this technological singularity,
08:36a state where we will lead our technologies to such an extent
08:39that we will no longer be able to control their development.
08:42Thus, if artificial intelligence had become so advanced,
08:45it would radically change our way of life.
08:48Despite the current efforts of AI,
08:50we should not be too afraid that it will take control of the world,
08:53at least not over the next few years.
08:56What we have developed so far is only rudimentary artificial intelligence,
09:00simple simulations.
09:02These AI may seem frightening,
09:04but the truth is that they still have a long way to go
09:07before rivaling complexity with the human brain.
09:11Not to mention consciousness.
09:13However, many are those who think
09:15that it is only a matter of time before the AI reaches this level of cognition.
09:20At that point, our world could be forever altered.
09:24There are still other possibilities.
09:27One day, for example, we could reach the stage
09:30where we will merge with our machines
09:32and learn to download our consciousness into the cloud.
09:35In this case, we could become a collective consciousness,
09:39communicating on the Internet with our brains
09:41and no longer forming a single gigantic mind.
09:44Whatever the future outcome, one thing is certain.
09:48Technology evolves rapidly,
09:50and it will eventually affect us sooner or later.
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