Human

== Culture ==
{{Main|Culture|Cultural universal}}
{{Infobox
|title=Human society statistics
|label1=Most widely spoken languages<!--PLEASE LIMIT TO TOP TEN--><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/guides/ethnologue200|title=What are the top 200 most spoken languages?|work=[[Ethnologue: Languages of the World]]|date=2020|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=12 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112222210/http://www.ethnologue.org/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=size|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=CIAWorldFactbook>{{cite report|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/world/|title=World|work=[[The World Factbook]]|publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]]|access-date=15 November 2021|date=|archive-date=26 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126032610/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/world/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|data1=[[English language|English]], [[Mandarin Chinese]], [[Hindi]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Standard Arabic]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[French language|French]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Urdu]]<!--PLEASE LIMIT TO TOP TEN-->
|label2=Most practiced religions<ref name=CIAWorldFactbook /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/04/05/the-changing-global-religious-landscape/|date=5 April 2017|publisher=Pew Research Center|title=The Changing Global Religious Landscape|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=18 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218030628/https://www.pewforum.org/2017/04/05/the-changing-global-religious-landscape/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|data2=[[Christianity]], [[Islam]], [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], [[folk religion]]s, [[Sikhism]], [[Judaism]], [[Irreligion|unaffiliated]]
}}
Humanity's unprecedented set of intellectual skills were a key factor in the species' eventual technological advancement and concomitant domination of the biosphere.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Ord T |title=The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity |date=2020 | location = New York |publisher=Hachette Books |isbn=978-0-316-48489-3 |quote=Homo sapiens and our close relatives may have some unique physical attributes, such as our dextrous hands, upright walking and resonant voices. However, these on their own cannot explain our success. They went together with our intelligence...}}</ref> Disregarding extinct hominids, humans are the only animals known to teach generalizable information,<ref>{{cite news |vauthors=Goldman JG |title=Pay attention… time for lessons at animal school |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20121005-pay-attention-its-animal-school |access-date=22 April 2020 |work=bbc.com |date=2012 |language=en |archive-date=30 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130120957/https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20121005-pay-attention-its-animal-school |url-status=live }}</ref> innately deploy recursive [[Dependent clause|embedding]] to generate and communicate complex concepts,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Winkler M, Mueller JL, Friederici AD, Männel C | title = Infant cognition includes the potentially human-unique ability to encode embedding | journal = Science Advances | volume = 4 | issue = 11 | pages = eaar8334 | date = November 2018 | pmid = 30474053 | pmc = 6248967 | doi = 10.1126/sciadv.aar8334 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2018SciA....4.8334W }}</ref> engage in the "[[folk physics]]" required for competent tool design,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Johnson-Frey SH | title = What's so special about human tool use? | journal = Neuron | volume = 39 | issue = 2 | pages = 201–204 | date = July 2003 | pmid = 12873378 | doi = 10.1016/S0896-6273(03)00424-0 | s2cid = 18437970 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Emery NJ, Clayton NS | title = Tool use and physical cognition in birds and mammals | journal = Current Opinion in Neurobiology | volume = 19 | issue = 1 | pages = 27–33 | date = February 2009 | pmid = 19328675 | doi = 10.1016/j.conb.2009.02.003 | quote = In short, the evidence to date that animals have an understanding of folk physics is at best mixed. | s2cid = 18277620 }}</ref> or cook food in the wild.<ref>{{cite news |vauthors=Lemonick MD |date=3 June 2015 |title=Chimps Can't Cook, But Maybe They'd Like To |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/06/150602-chimp-cooking-evolution-human-brain-science/ |access-date=22 April 2020 |work=National Geographic News |archive-date=31 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131064840/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/06/150602-chimp-cooking-evolution-human-brain-science/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Teaching and learning preserves the cultural and ethnographic identity of human societies.<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Vakhitova T, Gadelshina L |date=2 June 2015|title=The Role and Importance of the Study of Economic Subjects in the Implementation of the Educational Potential of Education |journal=Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences|series=The Proceedings of 6th World Conference on educational Sciences|language=en|volume=191|pages=2565–2567|doi=10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.690|issn=1877-0428|doi-access=free}}</ref> Other traits and behaviors that are mostly unique to humans include starting fires,<ref>{{cite news|vauthors=McKie R|date=9 October 2018|title=The Book of Humans by Adam Rutherford review – a pithy homage to our species|language=en|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/09/the-book-of-humans-adam-rutherford-review|access-date=22 April 2020|archive-date=5 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205084949/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/09/the-book-of-humans-adam-rutherford-review|url-status=live}}</ref> [[phoneme]] structuring<ref>{{cite news|vauthors=Nicholls H|date=29 June 2015|title=Babblers speak to the origin of language|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/animal-magic/2015/jun/29/babblers-birds-origin-evolution-language|access-date=22 April 2020|archive-date=31 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131120059/https://www.theguardian.com/science/animal-magic/2015/jun/29/babblers-birds-origin-evolution-language|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[vocal learning]].<ref>{{cite news|vauthors=Dasgupta S|date=2015|title=Can any animals talk and use language like humans?|language=en|work=bbc.com|url=https://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150216-can-any-animals-talk-like-humans|access-date=22 April 2020|quote=Most animals are not vocal learners.|archive-date=2 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502172910/http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150216-can-any-animals-talk-like-humans|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Language ===
{{Main|Language}}
[[File:Primary Human Languages Improved Version.png|upright=1.5|thumb|Principal [[List of language families|language families]] of the world (and in some cases geographic groups of families). For greater detail, see ''[[:Template:Distribution of languages in the world|Distribution of languages in the world]]''.]]
While many species [[animal communication|communicate]], [[language]] is unique to humans, a defining feature of humanity, and a [[cultural universal]].<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Scott-Phillips TC, Blythe RA | date = 18 September 2013 | title = Why is language unique to humans? | publisher = Royal Society | url = https://royalsociety.org/news/2013/language-unique-humans/ | access-date = 24 October 2020 | language = en-gb | archive-date = 18 January 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210118210915/https://royalsociety.org/news/2013/language-unique-humans/ | url-status = live }}</ref> Unlike the limited systems of other animals, human language is open{{snd}}an infinite number of meanings can be produced by combining a limited number of symbols.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Pagel M | title = Q&A: What is human language, when did it evolve and why should we care? | journal = BMC Biology | volume = 15 | issue = 1 | page = 64 | date = July 2017 | pmid = 28738867 | pmc = 5525259 | doi = 10.1186/s12915-017-0405-3 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Fitch WT |date=4 December 2010|title=Language evolution: How to hear words long silenced |journal=New Scientist|language=en|volume=208|issue=2789|pages=ii–iii|doi=10.1016/S0262-4079(10)62961-2|bibcode=2010NewSc.208D...2F|issn=0262-4079}}</ref> Human language also has the capacity of [[Displacement (linguistics)|displacement]], using words to represent things and happenings that are not presently or locally occurring but reside in the shared imagination of interlocutors.<ref name="Revolution" />

Language differs from other forms of communication in that it is [[Origin of speech#Modality-independence|modality independent]]; the same meanings can be conveyed through different media, audibly in [[speech]], visually by [[sign language]] or writing, and through tactile media such as [[braille]].<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Lian A | chapter = The Modality-Independent Capacity of Language: A Milestone of Evolution|date=2016 | title = Language Evolution and Developmental Impairments|pages=229–255| veditors = Lian A |place=London|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|language=en|doi=10.1057/978-1-137-58746-6_7|isbn=978-1-137-58746-6 }}</ref> Language is central to the communication between humans, and to the sense of identity that unites nations, cultures and ethnic groups.<ref>{{cite web|title=Culture {{!}} United Nations For Indigenous Peoples|url=https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/mandated-areas1/culture.html|access-date=24 October 2020|website=www.un.org|date=5 June 2015|archive-date=26 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126163227/https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/mandated-areas1/culture.html|url-status=live}}</ref> There are approximately six thousand different languages currently in use, including sign languages, and many thousands more that are [[extinct language|extinct]].<ref name="Comrie1996">{{cite book | vauthors = Comrie B, Polinsky M, Matthews S |title=The Atlas of Languages: The Origin and Development of Languages Throughout the World |year=1996 |publisher=Facts on File |location=New York |pages=13–15 |isbn=978-0-8160-3388-1}}</ref>

=== The arts ===
{{Main|The arts||}}Human arts can take many forms including [[Visual arts|visual]], [[Literary arts|literary]], and [[Performing arts|performing]]. Visual art can range from [[painting]]s and [[sculpture]]s to [[film]], [[fashion design]], and [[architecture]].<ref>{{Cite book|vauthors=Mavrody S|url={{GBurl|id=tBqgBQAAQBAJ}}|title=Visual Art Forms: Traditional to Digital|publisher=Sergey's HTML5 & CSS3|year=2013|isbn=978-0-9833867-5-9|language=en|access-date=30 July 2022}}</ref> Literary arts can include [[prose]], [[poetry]], and [[drama]]s. The performing arts generally involve [[theatre]], [[music]], and [[dance]].<ref>{{cite web|date=2020|title=Types of Literary Arts and Their Understanding – bookfestivalscotland.com|url=https://bookfestivalscotland.com/types-of-literary-arts-and-their-understanding/|access-date=5 May 2021|website=Bookfestival Scotland|language=en-UK|archive-date=5 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505234546/http://bookfestivalscotland.com/types-of-literary-arts-and-their-understanding/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Bachelor of Performing Arts|url=https://www.otago.ac.nz/performing-arts/otago056890.pdf|website=[[University of Otago]]|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=14 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214010758/https://www.otago.ac.nz/performing-arts/otago056890.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Humans often combine the different forms (for example, music videos).<ref>{{Cite journal| vauthors = Brown S |date=24 October 2018|title=Toward a Unification of the Arts|journal=Frontiers in Psychology|volume=9|page=1938|doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01938|issn=1664-1078|pmc=6207603|pmid=30405470|doi-access=free}}</ref> Other entities that have been described as having artistic qualities include [[Culinary arts|food preparation]], [[Video games as an art form|video games]], and [[medicine]].<ref>{{cite web|date=21 October 2019|title=Culinary arts – How cooking can be an art|url=https://www.northernartprize.org.uk/culinary-arts-cooking-can-art|access-date=5 May 2021|website=Northern Contemporary Art|language=en-US|archive-date=11 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511102807/http://www.northernartprize.org.uk/culinary-arts-cooking-can-art|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Smuts A|date=1 January 2005|title=Are Video Games Art?|url=https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/liberalarts_contempaesthetics/vol3/iss1/6|journal=Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)|volume=3|issue=1|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=29 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220529081114/https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/liberalarts_contempaesthetics/vol3/iss1/6/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Cameron IA, Pimlott N | title = Art of medicine | journal = Canadian Family Physician | volume = 61 | issue = 9 | pages = 739–740 | date = September 2015 | pmid = 26371092 | pmc = 4569099 }}</ref> As well as providing entertainment and transferring knowledge, the arts are also used for [[The arts and politics|political purposes]].<ref>{{Cite journal| vauthors = Bird G |date=7 June 2019|title=Rethinking the role of the arts in politics: lessons from the Négritude movement |journal=International Journal of Cultural Policy|language=en|volume=25|issue=4|pages=458–470|doi=10.1080/10286632.2017.1311328|s2cid=151443044|issn=1028-6632}}</ref> [[File:British Museum Flood Tablet.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[deluge (mythology)|Deluge]] tablet of [[Epic of Gilgamesh|the ''Gilgamesh'' epic]] in [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]]]

[[Art]] is a defining characteristic of humans and there is evidence for a relationship between creativity and language.<ref name="Morriss-Kay-2010">{{cite journal | vauthors = Morriss-Kay GM | title = The evolution of human artistic creativity | journal = Journal of Anatomy | volume = 216 | issue = 2 | pages = 158–176 | date = February 2010 | pmid = 19900185 | pmc = 2815939 | doi = 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2009.01160.x }}</ref> The earliest evidence of art was shell engravings made by ''Homo erectus'' 300,000 years before modern humans evolved.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Joordens JC, d'Errico F, Wesselingh FP, Munro S, de Vos J, Wallinga J, Ankjærgaard C, Reimann T, Wijbrans JR, Kuiper KF, Mücher HJ, Coqueugniot H, Prié V, Joosten I, van Os B, Schulp AS, Panuel M, van der Haas V, Lustenhouwer W, Reijmer JJ, Roebroeks W | display-authors = 6 | title = Homo erectus at Trinil on Java used shells for tool production and engraving | journal = Nature | volume = 518 | issue = 7538 | pages = 228–231 | date = February 2015 | pmid = 25470048 | doi = 10.1038/nature13962 | s2cid = 4461751 | bibcode = 2015Natur.518..228J }}</ref> Art attributed to ''H. sapiens'' existed at least 75,000 years ago, with jewellery and drawings found in caves in South Africa.<ref>{{cite news|vauthors=St Fleur N|date=12 September 2018|title=Oldest Known Drawing by Human Hands Discovered in South African Cave|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/12/science/oldest-drawing-ever-found.html|access-date=20 September 2018|archive-date=14 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414094752/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/12/science/oldest-drawing-ever-found.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|vauthors=Radford T|date=16 April 2004|title=World's oldest jewellery found in cave|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/apr/16/artsandhumanities.arts|access-date=23 September 2020|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=12 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212095737/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/apr/16/artsandhumanities.arts|url-status=live}}</ref> There are various hypotheses as to why humans have [[Adaptation|adapted]] to the arts. These include allowing them to better problem solve issues, providing a means to control or influence other humans, encouraging cooperation and contribution within a society or increasing the chance of attracting a potential mate.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Dissanayake E |title=World Art Studies: Exploring Concepts and Approaches|publisher=Valiz|year=2008| veditors = Zijlmans K, van Damme W |location=Amsterdam|pages=241–263|chapter=The Arts after Darwin: Does Art have an Origin and Adaptive Function? }}</ref> The use of imagination developed through art, combined with logic may have given early humans an evolutionary advantage.<ref name="Morriss-Kay-2010" />

Evidence of humans engaging in musical activities predates cave art and so far music has been [[Cultural universal|practiced by virtually all known human cultures]].<ref name="Morley-2014">{{cite journal | vauthors = Morley I | title = A multi-disciplinary approach to the origins of music: perspectives from anthropology, archaeology, cognition and behaviour | journal = Journal of Anthropological Sciences = Rivista di Antropologia | volume = 92 | issue = 92 | pages = 147–177 | date = 2014 | pmid = 25020016 | doi = 10.4436/JASS.92008 | doi-broken-date = 2024-03-20 }}</ref> There exists a wide variety of [[music genre]]s and [[ethnic music]]s; with humans' musical abilities being related to other abilities, including complex social human behaviours.<ref name="Morley-2014" /> It has been shown that human brains respond to music by becoming synchronized with the rhythm and beat, a process called [[Entrainment (biomusicology)|entrainment]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Trost W, Frühholz S, Schön D, Labbé C, Pichon S, Grandjean D, Vuilleumier P | title = Getting the beat: entrainment of brain activity by musical rhythm and pleasantness | journal = NeuroImage | volume = 103 | pages = 55–64 | date = December 2014 | pmid = 25224999 | doi = 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.09.009 | s2cid = 4727529 | url = https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02446627/file/Trost2014_UncorrectedProof.pdf }}</ref> Dance is also a form of human expression found in all cultures<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Karpati FJ, Giacosa C, Foster NE, Penhune VB, Hyde KL | title = Dance and the brain: a review | journal = Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences | volume = 1337 | issue = 1 | pages = 140–146 | date = March 2015 | pmid = 25773628 | doi = 10.1111/nyas.12632 | s2cid = 206224849 | bibcode = 2015NYASA1337..140K }}</ref> and may have evolved as a way to help early humans communicate.<ref>{{cite web|date=22 March 2010|vauthors=Chow D|title=Why Do Humans Dance?|url=https://www.livescience.com/8132-humans-dance.html|access-date=21 September 2020|website=livescience.com|language=en|archive-date=1 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201180750/https://www.livescience.com/8132-humans-dance.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Listening to music and observing dance stimulates the [[orbitofrontal cortex]] and other pleasure sensing areas of the brain.<ref>{{cite web|vauthors=Krakauer J|date=26 September 2008|title=Why do we like to dance{{snd}}And move to the beat?|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-dance/|access-date=21 September 2020|website=Scientific American|language=en|archive-date=28 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228035904/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-dance/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Unlike speaking, reading and writing does not come naturally to humans and must be taught.<ref>{{cite web|vauthors=Prior KS|date=21 June 2013|title=How Reading Makes Us More Human|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/how-reading-makes-us-more-human/277079/|access-date=23 September 2020|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US|archive-date=29 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129222006/https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/how-reading-makes-us-more-human/277079/|url-status=live}}</ref> Still, [[literature]] has been present before the invention of words and language, with 30,000-year-old paintings on walls inside some caves portraying a series of dramatic scenes.<ref name="Puchner">{{cite web|vauthors=Puchner M|title=How stories have shaped the world|url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180423-how-stories-have-shaped-the-world|access-date=23 September 2020|website=www.bbc.com|language=en|archive-date=5 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105053111/https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180423-how-stories-have-shaped-the-world|url-status=live}}</ref> One of the oldest surviving works of literature is the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'', first engraved on ancient [[Babylonia]]n tablets about 4,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite book| editor-first = Stephanie | editor-last=Dalley | editor-link=Stephanie Dalley | title=Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-19-283589-5|edition=revised|page=41}}</ref> Beyond simply passing down knowledge, the use and sharing of imaginative [[fiction]] through stories might have helped develop humans' capabilities for communication and increased the likelihood of securing a mate.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Hernadi P|date=2001|title=Literature and Evolution|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3685504|journal=SubStance|volume=30|issue=1/2|pages=55–71|doi=10.2307/3685504|jstor=3685504|issn=0049-2426|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130052249/https://www.jstor.org/stable/3685504|url-status=live}}</ref> Storytelling may also be used as a way to provide the audience with moral lessons and encourage cooperation.<ref name="Puchner" />

=== Tools and technologies ===
{{Main|Tool|Technology}}
[[File:JR-Maglev-MLX01-2.jpg|alt=Train running on a track|thumb|The [[SCMaglev]], the [[land speed record for rail vehicles|fastest train]] in the world clocking in at {{cvt|603|km/h|mph|0}} as of 2015<ref>{{cite news|vauthors=McCurry J|date=21 April 2015|title=Japan's Maglev Train Breaks World Speed Record with 600&nbsp;km/h Test Run|edition=U.S.|work=The Guardian|location=New York|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/21/japans-maglev-train-notches-up-new-world-speed-record-in-test-run|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=18 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220618083538/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/21/japans-maglev-train-notches-up-new-world-speed-record-in-test-run|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
Stone tools were used by proto-humans at least 2.5&nbsp;million years ago.<ref name="Clark1994">{{cite journal | author1 = Clark JD | author1-link= | author2=de Heinzelin J | author2-link=Jean de Heinzelin de Braucourt | author3=Schick KD | author3-link=Kathy Schick | author4=Hart WK | author4-link= | author5=White TD | author5-link=Tim D. White | author6=WoldeGabriel G | author6-link= | author7=Walter RC | author7-link= | author8=Suwa G | author8-link=Gen Suwa | author9=Asfaw B | author9-link=Berhane Asfaw | author10=Vrba E | author10-link=Elisabeth Vrba | author11=H.-Selassie Y | author11-link=Yohannes Haile-Selassie | title = African Homo erectus: old radiometric ages and young Oldowan assemblages in the Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia | journal = Science | volume = 264 | issue = 5167 | pages = 1907–1910 | date = June 1994 | pmid = 8009220 | doi = 10.1126/science.8009220 | bibcode = 1994Sci...264.1907C }}</ref> The use and manufacture of tools has been put forward as the ability that defines humans more than anything else<ref name="Choi-2009">{{cite web|date=11 November 2009|vauthors=Choi CQ|title=Human Evolution: The Origin of Tool Use|url=https://www.livescience.com/7968-human-evolution-origin-tool.html|access-date=9 October 2020|website=livescience.com|language=en|archive-date=4 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004144848/https://www.livescience.com/7968-human-evolution-origin-tool.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and has historically been seen as an important evolutionary step.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Orban GA, Caruana F | title = The neural basis of human tool use | journal = Frontiers in Psychology | volume = 5 | page = 310 | date = 2014 | pmid = 24782809 | pmc = 3988392 | doi = 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00310 | doi-access = free }}</ref> The technology became much more sophisticated about 1.8 million years ago,<ref name="Choi-2009" /> with the [[Control of fire by early humans|controlled use of fire]] beginning around 1&nbsp;million years ago.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Berna F, Goldberg P, Horwitz LK, Brink J, Holt S, Bamford M, Chazan M | title = Microstratigraphic evidence of in situ fire in the Acheulean strata of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape province, South Africa | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 109 | issue = 20 | pages = E1215-20 | date = May 2012 | pmid = 22474385 | pmc = 3356665 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1117620109 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Gowlett JA | title = The discovery of fire by humans: a long and convoluted process | journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences | volume = 371 | issue = 1696 | page = 20150164 | date = June 2016 | pmid = 27216521 | pmc = 4874402 | doi = 10.1098/rstb.2015.0164 }}</ref> The wheel and wheeled vehicles appeared simultaneously in several regions some time in the fourth millennium BC.<ref name="Bodnár-2018" /> The development of more complex tools and technologies allowed land to be [[Arable land|cultivated]] and animals to be [[Domestication|domesticated]], thus proving essential in the development of [[agriculture]]{{snd}}what is known as the [[Neolithic Revolution]].<ref>{{cite web|date=2018|title=Neolithic Era Tools: Inventing a New Age|url=https://www.magellantv.com/articles/tools-of-the-neolithic-era-inventing-a-new-age|access-date=9 October 2020|website=MagellanTV|vauthors=Damiano J|archive-date=5 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105053059/https://www.magellantv.com/articles/tools-of-the-neolithic-era-inventing-a-new-age|url-status=live}}</ref>

China developed [[paper]], the [[printing press]], [[gunpowder]], the [[compass]] and [[List of Chinese inventions|other important inventions]].<ref>{{Cite book|vauthors=Deng Y, Wang P|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/671710733|title=Ancient Chinese inventions|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0-521-18692-6|edition=|location=Cambridge, UK|pages=13–14|oclc=671710733|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730033309/https://www.worldcat.org/title/ancient-chinese-inventions/oclc/671710733|url-status=live}}</ref> The continued improvements in [[smelting]] allowed [[forging]] of copper, bronze, iron and eventually [[steel]], which is used in [[railways]], [[skyscraper]]s and many other products.<ref>{{cite web|vauthors=Schifman J|date=9 July 2018|title=The Entire History of Steel|url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a20722505/history-of-steel/|access-date=5 May 2021|website=Popular Mechanics|language=en-US|archive-date=5 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505092218/https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a20722505/history-of-steel/|url-status=live}}</ref> This coincided with the [[Industrial Revolution]], where the invention of automated machines brought major changes to humans' lifestyles.<ref>{{cite web|author-first=Freddie |author-last=Wilkinson|date=9 January 2020|title=Industrial Revolution and Technology|url=https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/industrial-revolution-and-technology/|access-date=9 October 2020|website=National Geographic Society|language=en|archive-date=30 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930225816/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/industrial-revolution-and-technology/|url-status=live}}</ref> Modern technology is observed as [[Accelerating change|progressing exponentially]],<ref>{{Cite journal|author1-last=Roser |author1-first=Max |author1-link=Max Roser |author2-last=Ritchie |author2-first=Hannah|date=11 May 2013|title=Technological Progress|url=https://ourworldindata.org/technological-progress|journal=Our World in Data|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=10 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910043042/https://ourworldindata.org/technological-progress|url-status=live}}</ref> with major innovations in the 20th century including: [[Electricity generation|electricity]], [[penicillin]], [[semiconductor]]s, [[internal combustion engine]]s, the [[Internet]], [[Fertilizer|nitrogen fixing fertilisers]], [[airplane]]s, [[computer]]s, [[Car|automobiles]], [[Combined oral contraceptive pill|contraceptive pills]], [[nuclear fission]], the [[Green Revolution|green revolution]], [[radio]], scientific [[plant breeding]], [[rocket]]s, [[air conditioning]], [[television]] and the [[assembly line]].<ref>{{cite web|vauthors=Fallows J|date=23 October 2013|title=The 50 Greatest Breakthroughs Since the Wheel|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/11/innovations-list/309536/|access-date=5 May 2021|website=The Atlantic|language=en|archive-date=5 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505064701/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/11/innovations-list/309536/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Religion and spirituality ===
{{Main|Religion|Spirituality}}
[[File:Brooklyn Museum 1992.133.4 Figure of Shango on Horseback.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Shango]], the [[Orisha]] of fire, lightning, and thunder, in the [[Yoruba religion]], depicted on horseback]]
[[Definition of religion|Definitions of religion]] vary;<ref name="Idinopulos-1998">{{cite journal|vauthors=Idinopulos TA|date=1998|title=What Is Religion?|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24460821|journal=CrossCurrents|volume=48|issue=3|pages=366–380|jstor=24460821|issn=0011-1953|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=13 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201013014742/https://www.jstor.org/stable/24460821|url-status=live}}</ref> according to one definition, a religion is a [[belief]] system concerning the [[supernatural]], [[sacred]] or [[divinity|divine]], and practices, [[values]], institutions and [[ritual]]s associated with such belief. Some religions also have a [[moral code]]. The [[Evolutionary psychology of religion|evolution]] and the history of the [[Evolutionary origin of religions|first religions]] have become areas of active scientific investigation.<ref name="Emmons2003">{{cite journal | vauthors = Emmons RA, Paloutzian RF | title = The psychology of religion | journal = Annual Review of Psychology | volume = 54 | issue = 1 | pages = 377–402 | year = 2003 | pmid = 12171998 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|vauthors=King BJ|date=29 March 2016|title=Chimpanzees: Spiritual But Not Religious?|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/03/chimpanzee-spirituality/475731/|access-date=8 October 2020|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US|archive-date=20 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120080957/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/03/chimpanzee-spirituality/475731/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Ball P|title=Complex societies evolved without belief in all-powerful deity|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2015.17040|journal=Nature News|year=2015|language=en|doi=10.1038/nature.2015.17040|s2cid=183474917|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=16 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516165439/https://www.nature.com/news/complex-societies-evolved-without-belief-in-all-powerful-deity-1.17040|url-status=live}}</ref> Credible evidence of religious behaviour dates to the [[Middle Paleolithic]] era (45–200 [[Tya (unit)|thousand years ago]]).<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Culotta E | author-link = Barbara J. King | title = Origins. On the origin of religion | journal = Science | volume = 326 | issue = 5954 | pages = 784–787 | date = November 2009 | pmid = 19892955 | doi = 10.1126/science.326_784 | bibcode = 2009Sci...326..784C }}</ref> It may have evolved to play a role in helping enforce and encourage cooperation between humans.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Atkinson QD, Bourrat P|title=Beliefs about God, the afterlife and morality support the role of supernatural policing in human cooperation|url=https://www.academia.edu/3430406|journal=Evolution and Human Behavior|year=2011|language=en|volume=32|issue=1|pages=41–49|doi=10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2010.07.008|issn=1090-5138|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=15 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201015031401/https://www.academia.edu/3430406/Beliefs_about_God_the_afterlife_and_morality_support_the_role_of_supernatural_policing_in_human_cooperation|url-status=live}}</ref>

Religion manifests in diverse forms.<ref name="Idinopulos-1998" /> Religion can include a belief in [[life after death]],<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Walker GC |date=1 August 2000|title=Secular Eschatology: Beliefs about Afterlife |journal=OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying|language=en|volume=41|issue=1|pages=5–22|doi=10.2190/Q21C-5VED-GYW6-W091|s2cid=145686249|issn=0030-2228}}</ref> the [[origin of life]], the nature of the [[universe]] ([[religious cosmology]]) and its [[ultimate fate]] ([[eschatology]]), and [[morality|moral]] or [[Religious ethics|ethical teachings]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = McKay R, Whitehouse H | title = Religion and morality | journal = Psychological Bulletin | volume = 141 | issue = 2 | pages = 447–473 | date = March 2015 | pmid = 25528346 | pmc = 4345965 | doi = 10.1037/a0038455 }}</ref> Views on [[Transcendence (religion)|transcendence]] and [[immanence]] vary substantially; traditions variously espouse [[monism]], [[deism]], [[pantheism]], and [[theism]] (including [[polytheism]] and [[monotheism]]).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110698343/html|title=God or the Divine? Religious Transcendence Beyond Monism and Theism, Between Personality and Impersonality|publisher=[[De Gruyter]]|date=2023|doi=10.1515/9783110698343 |isbn=978-3-11-069834-3 |editor1=Bernhard Nitsche|editor2=Marcus Schmücker}}</ref>

Although measuring religiosity is difficult,<ref name="Hall2008">{{cite journal | vauthors = Hall DE, Meador KG, Koenig HG | title = Measuring religiousness in health research: review and critique | journal = Journal of Religion and Health | volume = 47 | issue = 2 | pages = 134–163 | date = June 2008 | pmid = 19105008 | doi = 10.1007/s10943-008-9165-2 | pmc = 8823950 | type = Submitted manuscript | s2cid = 25349208 | url = https://zenodo.org/record/1232820 | access-date = 30 July 2022 | archive-date = 30 January 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210130130503/https://zenodo.org/record/1232820 | url-status = live }}</ref> a majority of humans profess some variety of religious or spiritual belief.<ref>{{cite news|vauthors=Sherwood H|date=27 August 2018|title=Religion: why faith is becoming more and more popular|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/aug/27/religion-why-is-faith-growing-and-what-happens-next|access-date=8 October 2020|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=1 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301113948/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/aug/27/religion-why-is-faith-growing-and-what-happens-next|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2015 the plurality were [[Christians|Christian]] followed by [[Muslims]], [[Hindus]] and [[Buddhism|Buddhists]].<ref>{{cite web|vauthors=Hackett C, McClendon D|date=2017|title=Christians remain world's largest religious group, but they are declining in Europe|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/05/christians-remain-worlds-largest-religious-group-but-they-are-declining-in-europe/|access-date=8 October 2020|website=Pew Research Center|language=en-US|archive-date=24 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191124021738/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/05/christians-remain-worlds-largest-religious-group-but-they-are-declining-in-europe/|url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2015, about 16%, or slightly under 1.2 billion humans, were [[irreligious]], including those with no religious beliefs or no identity with any religion.<ref>{{cite web|date=5 April 2017|title=The Changing Global Religious Landscape|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/04/05/the-changing-global-religious-landscape/|access-date=8 October 2020|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|language=en-US|archive-date=18 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218030628/https://www.pewforum.org/2017/04/05/the-changing-global-religious-landscape/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Science and philosophy ===
{{Main|Science|Philosophy}}
[[File:Dunhuang star map.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Dunhuang map]], a [[star map]] showing the North Polar region. China circa 700.]]
An aspect unique to humans is their ability to [[Knowledge transfer|transmit knowledge]] from one generation to the next and to continually build on this information to develop tools, [[scientific law]]s and other advances to pass on further.<ref>{{cite web|last=Di Christina |first=Mariette |author-link=Mariette DiChristina |title=A Very Human Story: Why Our Species Is Special|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-very-human-story-why-our-species-is-special/|access-date=27 September 2020|website=Scientific American|date=September 2018 |language=en|archive-date=24 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124160953/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-very-human-story-why-our-species-is-special/|url-status=live}}</ref> This accumulated knowledge can be tested to answer questions or make predictions about how the universe functions and has been very successful in advancing human ascendancy.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Andersen | first1=Hanne | author1-link=Hanne Andersen | last2=Hepburn |first2=Brian | title=Scientific Method|date=2020|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2020/entries/scientific-method/|encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|veditors=Zalta EN|edition=Winter 2020|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|access-date=8 October 2020|archive-date=23 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210223174917/https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2020/entries/scientific-method/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Aristotle]] has been described as the first scientist,<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Lo Presti R|date=2014|title=History of science: The first scientist|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=512|issue=7514|pages=250–251|doi=10.1038/512250a|bibcode=2014Natur.512..250L|s2cid=4394696|issn=1476-4687|doi-access=free}}</ref> and preceded the rise of scientific thought through the [[Hellenistic period]].<ref>{{Cite book|vauthors=Russo L|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/883392276|title=The forgotten revolution : how science was born in 300 BC and why it had to be reborn|date=2004|isbn=978-3-642-18904-3|page=1|publisher=Springer |oclc=883392276|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730033309/https://www.worldcat.org/title/forgotten-revolution-how-science-was-born-in-300-bc-and-why-it-had-to-be-reborn/oclc/883392276|url-status=live}}</ref> Other early advances in science came from the [[Science and technology of the Han dynasty|Han Dynasty]] in China and during the [[Islamic Golden Age]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Needham |author-link=Joseph Needham|first=J |author2=Wang Ling|author2-link=Wang Ling (historian)|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/779676|title=Science and civilisation in China|year=1954|isbn=0-521-05799-X|page=111|publisher=Cambridge University Press |oclc=779676|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730033311/https://www.worldcat.org/title/science-and-civilisation-in-china/oclc/779676|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Renima-2016" /> The [[Scientific Revolution|scientific revolution]], near the end of the [[Renaissance]], led to the emergence of [[modern science]].<ref>{{Cite book|vauthors=Henry J|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/615209781|title=The scientific revolution and the origins of modern science|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2008|isbn=978-1-137-07904-6|edition=3|location=Houndsmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire|chapter=Renaissance and Revolution|oclc=615209781|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730033313/https://www.worldcat.org/title/scientific-revolution-and-the-origins-of-modern-science/oclc/615209781|url-status=live}}</ref>

A chain of events and influences led to the development of the [[scientific method]], a process of observation and experimentation that is used to differentiate science from [[pseudoscience]].<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Hansson SO | veditors = Zalta EN |year=2017|title=Science and Pseudo-Science|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pseudo-science/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170611061811/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pseudo-science/|archive-date=11 June 2017|access-date=3 July 2017|website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University}}</ref> An understanding of [[mathematics]] is unique to humans, although other species of animals have some [[numerical cognition]].<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Olmstead MC, Kuhlmeier VA | title = Comparative Cognition | publisher = Cambridge University Press | date = 2015 | pages = 209–210 | isbn = 978-1-107-01116-8 }}</ref> All of science can be divided into three major branches, the [[formal sciences]] (e.g., [[logic]] and [[mathematics]]), which are concerned with [[formal systems]], the [[applied sciences]] (e.g., engineering, medicine), which are focused on practical applications, and the empirical sciences, which are based on [[empirical observation]] and are in turn divided into [[natural sciences]] (e.g., [[physics]], [[chemistry]], [[biology]]) and [[social sciences]] (e.g., [[psychology]], economics, sociology).<ref>{{cite web|title=Branches of Science|url=https://pmr.uchicago.edu/sites/pmr.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/BranchesofSciencePresentation.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170423062909/https://pmr.uchicago.edu/sites/pmr.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/BranchesofSciencePresentation.pdf|archive-date=23 April 2017|access-date=26 June 2017|publisher=[[University of Chicago]]}}</ref>

Philosophy is a field of study where humans seek to understand fundamental truths about themselves and the world in which they live.<ref>{{cite web |title=What is Philosophy? |work=Department of Philosophy |publisher=Florida State University |url=https://philosophy.fsu.edu/undergraduate-study/why-philosophy/What-is-Philosophy |access-date=8 October 2020 |archive-date=23 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210223102725/https://philosophy.fsu.edu/undergraduate-study/why-philosophy/What-is-Philosophy |url-status=live }}</ref> Philosophical inquiry has been a major feature in the development of humans' intellectual history.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Philosophy |encyclopedia=Definition, Systems, Fields, Schools, & Biographies |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy |access-date=8 October 2020 |archive-date=23 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210223162559/https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy |url-status=live }}</ref> It has been described as the "no man's land" between definitive scientific knowledge and dogmatic religious teachings.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Kaufmann F, Russell B|date=1947|title=A History of Western Philosophy and its Connection with Political and Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the Present Day.|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2102800|journal=Philosophy and Phenomenological Research|volume=7|issue=3|page=461|doi=10.2307/2102800|jstor=2102800|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=31 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331234443/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2102800|url-status=live}}</ref> Philosophy relies on reason and evidence, unlike religion, but does not require the empirical observations and experiments provided by science.<ref>{{cite web|vauthors=Messerly JG|date=25 March 2016|title=What is the Difference Between Philosophy, Science, and Religion?|url=https://ieet.org/index.php/IEET2/more/messerly20160325|access-date=8 August 2020|website=ieet.org|archive-date=4 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304193914/https://archive.ieet.org/articles/messerly20160325.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Major fields of philosophy include [[metaphysics]], [[epistemology]], [[Logic (philosophy)|logic]], and [[axiology]] (which includes [[ethics]] and [[aesthetics]]).<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Hassan NR, Mingers J, Stahl B |date=4 May 2018|title=Philosophy and information systems: where are we and where should we go? |journal=European Journal of Information Systems | volume=27|issue=3|pages=263–277|doi=10.1080/0960085X.2018.1470776|s2cid=64796132|issn=0960-085X|doi-access=free|hdl=2086/16128|hdl-access=free}}</ref>