How it all began

For a long time people have wondered how it all began. What was the origin of our species Homo sapiens? As illuminated by Darwin natural selection made all the gradual changes in our DNA that turned us from apes to humans. There were other species of the family Homo as discussed by Harari in Sapiens, his widely read and admired history of mankind. There may not be any fossil records yet of the earlier evolutionary points leading up to this family and species, but it must have been a creature with almost all of our first ancestor's traits. There was a time when several, if not many of our species could breed with the others like them. It is debated whether sapiens could interbreed with neanderthals, for example. However we became defined as sapiens in particular, what led to the growth of the species thereafter?

What then were the singular traits that allowed sapiens to survive and then thrive to the point of total command of the environment that we have attained in the 70,000 or so years that we have existed?

Foremost, I believe, we developed a complex language that has been the engine of all knowledge. We have had a rich emotional life but our minds also include our urges, sensations, memories and above all thoughts. Because we can think, we have had the ability to organize ever more grand societies. Our thoughts have given us the host of skills that it took to create vaccines and medicines for our ills, to satisfy our curiosity about ourselves and the world we occupy and to take sapiens beyond the confines of Earth to the Moon. Our emotions and urges were the driving force behind our progress, but our thoughts and memories have made our progress possible.