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1、為什么火造就了人類WhyFireMakesUsHuman為什么火造就了人類Whereverhumanshavegoneintheworld,theyhavecarriedwiththemtwothings,languageandfire.Astheytraveledthroughtropicalforeststheyhoardedthepreciousembersofoldfiresandshelteredthemfromdownpours.WhentheysettledthebarrenArctic,theytookwiththemthememoryo
2、ffire,andrecreateditinstonewarevesselsfilledwithanimalfat.Darwinhimselfconsideredthesethetwomostsignificantachievementsofhumanity.Itis,ofcourse,impossibletoimagineahumansocietythatdoesnothavelanguage,but—giventherightclimateandanadequacyofrawwildfood—couldtherebeaprimitivetribeth
3、atsurviveswithoutcooking?Infact,nosuchpeoplehaveeverbeenfound.Norwilltheybe,accordingtoaprovocativetheorybyHarvardbiologistRichardWrangham,whobelievesthatfireisneededtofueltheorganthatmakespossiblealltheotherproductsofculture,languageincluded:thehumanbrain.在這個(gè)世界上，不管人們走到哪里，有兩樣?xùn)|西總會(huì)
4、伴隨左右：語言和火。在穿過熱帶雨林時(shí)，人們會(huì)將燃燒著的珍貴木炭小心保存起來，以免被暴雨澆滅。當(dāng)他們?cè)诿Ｃ１睒O定居，會(huì)隨身攜帶著火種，然后在盛滿動(dòng)物脂肪的石器中重新點(diǎn)燃。達(dá)爾文認(rèn)為它們是人類最重要的兩大成就。一個(gè)沒有語言的社會(huì)當(dāng)然是不可想象的，但是，如果在一個(gè)氣候適宜、野生食物充足的環(huán)境下，是不是一個(gè)原始部落就能夠不靠烹飪而存活下去？事實(shí)上，尚未發(fā)現(xiàn)過有這種人存在。按照哈佛生物學(xué)家理查德·朗漢姆的挑戰(zhàn)性理論，這種人也不可能存在，他認(rèn)為，火為一種器官提供了燃料，這種器官使得包括語言在內(nèi)的所有其他文化產(chǎn)物，成為可能，這個(gè)器官就是人的大腦。Everyanimal
5、onearthisconstrainedbyitsenergybudget;thecaloriesobtainedfromfoodwillstretchonlysofar.Andformosthumanbeings,mostofthetime,thesecaloriesareburnednotatthegym,butinvisibly,inpoweringtheheart,thedigestivesystemandespeciallythebrain,inthesilentworkofmovingmoleculesaroundwithinandamong
6、its100billioncells.Ahumanbodyatrestdevotesroughlyone-fifthofitsenergytothebrain,regardlessofwhetheritisthinkinganythinguseful,oreventhinkingatall.Thus,theunprecedentedincreaseinbrainsizethathominidsembarkedonaround1.8millionyearsagohadtobepaidforwithaddedcalorieseithertakeninordi
7、vertedfromsomeotherfunctioninthebody.Manyanthropologiststhinkthekeybreakthroughwasaddingmeattothediet.ButWranghamandhisHarvardcolleagueRachelCarmodythinkthat’sonlyapartofwhatwasgoingoninevolutionatthetime.Whatmatters,theysay,isnotjusthowmanycaloriesyoucanputintoyourmouth,butwhath
8、appenstothefoodonceitgetsthere.Howmuchus
