What happened during the rest of human existence?

[shortster]

We have about 6,000 years of history. However, humans have existed for 300,000. So what do you think happened during the other 294,000 years?

The stone age lasted a really long time.

A lot of the same stuff that happened in the last 6,000 years

We were more advanced than today but then destroyed ourselves

We used to live on Mars before we nuked it into being inhabitable

We became a space faring civilization; but then society collapsed on Earth. We are the aliens.

Other ( please comment)

[NamerOfStars]

Well, it sped up greatly when the Great Leap Forward (no, not the Chinese one, the REAL one) happened, but we did indeed build up some pretty impressive (for the time, at least) civilizations that fell apart; the Tryptillians had three city-states with tens of thousands of inhabitants at a time when the Sumerians were hanging from trees by their tails, to pick just one example.

We didn't "destroy ourselves", though; nature took care of that. Time and time again, we'd build up only to get knocked down. Then Toba happened, and the ten or fifteen thousand humans left figured "nuts to this; time to take over the whole damn planet". And we did. Then we invented these puppies:

because Saturns 1-4 weren't good enough

to hurl giant man-made meteorites BACK into the face of Mother Nature, to show the bitch she doesn't have a monopoly on that kind of thing.

And while we were at it, we invented agriculture and stuff, just to rub it in.

[PatriceONeal]

History requires the ability to keep records and forming language and the use of writing. That took a while.

[WindAtMyBack]

6000 years is only the written history. It's also around the time when some peoples stopped being nomadic and settled down to form permanent towns and cities. They learned to grow food and breed animals.

Before that they were nomadic hunter gatherers. That's the large majority of human history. They did have advanced technology though. Controlled use of fire predates modern humans. Homo erectus used fire a million years ago.

What's interesting is that civilizations evolved independently at several places around the world at roughly the same time in historical terms. After hundreds of thousands of years, suddenly completely separate groups of humans started making cities, agriculture, breeding, writing, etc.

[PatriceONeal]

A lot of history was destroyed and replaced by other history. The library of Alexandria is a good example. It was said they had texts describing the beginning of man, but it was raided and pillaged by some jerks. Oh and also there was that big flood that all the religions agree happened.

[Adaeva]

There is a lot of information about our history prior to the written languages.

[shortster]

There is, but most of it is just conjecture as to what went on. If you consider how far we have advanced in the last 500 years. The loss of technology from the fall of civilization. The legends of Atlantis. And the sheer amount of time for which we just don't know about. The possibilities are immense.

[Anonymous]

I think we have stopped evolving. I think the way forward will be genetic editing or engineering. We are actually now thanks to modern technology and medicine passing on weak genes.

[NathanDavis]

we were just waiting... for cats to show up in our lives

[Anonymous]

We created an advanced civilization then ascended to a higher plane of existence leaving only a few people behind. Which wasn't enough to maintain our advancements, but was enough to repopulate.

[Anonymous]

Well that was before the vil lord Xenu arrived.

[Guy13]

Your numbers are wrong as your statement proves.

[shortster]

How so? Science says that homo sapeins emerged 300,000 years ago. Our history goes back to ancient Egypt which was about 6,000 years ago. 300,000 - 6,000 = 294,000

[PatriceONeal]

150k-250k is scientific consensus. I don't know about 300k but it's negligible.

[shortster]

Science isn't a committee. I looked it up before posting the question and got 300,000. However, I didn't look at how they arrived at the number. So it could be wrong. Though when I thought up the question I thought it was only 18,000. So regardless of which estimate is the best; the point still stands that there is a lot of human history for which we don't have any accounting of.

[CuriousMufuxka]

A lot of fuckin!