I saw Homo Naledi in South Africa but it was in a Box! ( Part II )

Homo Naledi was not only written about in National Geographic that September of 2015, it was in the news all over the world. If you have not heard about how remarkable was this find, and how extraordinary was the way it was found, please google it. Lee Berger, whose team made the find, was all over the news giving interviews and explaining in detail how his team went about exploring the Rising Star Cave in the Cradle of Humankind where they found Homo Naledi.

I will simply summarize by saying the space in the Rising Star Cave was so small that Lee Berger had to hire a team of cave explorers who were small enough in stature to squeeze through -- an 8 inch opening!! And they did it! For the personal story, I had planned to come home and tell all my friends and family about how thrilling an opportunity it was to visit the two South African vaults that housed The Taung Child and Mrs. Ples- two of the oldest and most famous fossil finds in the world ( next to the fossil find of Lucy in East Africa.) Not to mention the surprise of getting to see Sediba in the Wits vault, whose discovery was news to me. But then to have discovered upon returning home that I had been in the same room with Homo Naledi was just too much to comprehend.

So I spent the next several months sharing this story with anyone who would listen. And it would have never happened without my dear friend asking me to go to South Africa with him and his willingness to stay an extra week for the fossil tour. ( We also went on Safari while there, but that is for another post.) Of course the fossil tours trip to Wits University and the Cradle of Humankind would not have been possible without the graciousness of Lee Berger and Francis Thackery. I want to thank them both for treating us as visiting scholars interested in paleoanthropology and it's application to our two disciplines. My friend's interest is in the evolution of symbolic thinking and primitive religions, and my interest is in the evolutionary development of the early human brain/mind. Dr. Thackery arranged a discussion with his colleagues in the Evolution Department around these two topics. Dr. Berger took time from his quite full schedule to visit with us and share with us about his find of Sediba. And finally, what Dr. Berger could not share with us in the Vault that day was that we were all standing next to the shelves with the plastic containers ( boxes) that housed Homo Naledi!! Talk about a trip of a life time....

I saw Homo Naledi in South Africa, but it was in a Box!!( Part I)

The story begins in 2014 when my long time friend, colleague, and Religion Professor said he was going to South Africa to a professional meeting. He said if I would go with him to the meeting he would stay an extra week and do a fossils tour with me. I jumped at the chance and of course said yes.

Why was I interested in going to South Africa on a fossils tour? Because I had read Professor Lee Berger's book, In the Footsteps of Eve, where he tells his story of how he went from hunting arrowheads on his parents' farm in South Georgia ( which I also did as a teen on the farmlands of South GA) to attending graduate school in paleoanthropology, to becoming the Chair of the Human Evolution Department at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa. And in that position he is the overseer of the famous fossil vault on campus that houses the Taung Child, one of the most important fossils in all of paleoanthropology. Yes, I definitely wanted to go.

And we did. We went in the summer of 2015. The first week of the trip we spent on the Indian Coast, in Durban, South Africa, attending the professional meeting my friend wanted to attend. I did not know before we went that we would be exploring Apartheid at that meeting, and how it ended in South Africa with the Reconciliation Process that took place under Nelson Mandela. I also did not know that in Johannesburg we would visit Soweto and learn more about this very dark history of Apartheid in South Africa. After the meeting we flew from Durban to Johannesburg. The Wits University, in addition to being the overseer of the famous fossil vault named after former Director of Fossils, Philip Tobias, also owns and oversees the fossil research in the Cradle of Humankind. ( Google all of this if you want the background of this story I am telling.) The Cradle of Humankind, as it is called, is the very well known area of South Africa just north of Johannesburg where there are at least a half dozen Caves where the famous fossils have been found. The most famous cave is named Sterkfontein. We were able to tour this cave and see where Little Foot and Mrs. Ples were found. We futher toured an active archeological dig site and talked with the folks who were digging and researching ancient human fossils there. We also went to the museum in Pretoria, South Africa that housed in their private vault the famous fossil Mrs. Ples. We actually got to see her and touch her! Quite a few days it was!

But to get to the Homo Naledi encounter.....Due to the graciousness of hosts Dr. Francis Thackery, and Dr. Lee Berger we were allowed to visit the private and secure Phillip Tobias Fossil Vault. We could not believe it!! Accompanied by Dr. Thackery from the Human Evolution Department, and Dr. Berger, Chair of the Department, we walked in and saw in a glass case the famous fossil-- The Taung Child, discovered by Raymond Dart in 1925, which proved that humankind began in Africa and not any other part of the world. Dr. Thackery explained The Taung Child to us. Then Dr. Berger explained a recent fossil find that he had made. It was found in Malapa, South Africa in the Cradle of Humankind. We had heard only a bit about this find because it was so recent. If you want to read about it google, The Skull in the Rock. This find turned out to be a new species and was named Australipithecus Sediba, best known as just Sediba.

So we were so thrilled to see The Taung Child and Sediba we could not think much about anything else. But then came the surpise! Dr. Berger said, "Over here," pointing to plastic containers on the shelves in the vault, "is a new find, but we cannot talk about it yet because it is yet to be publically announced." He went on to say to look for the public unveiling in the September edition of National Geographic Magazine ( this was early August.) So we left South Africa after that week wondering what was in those plastic containers ( I refer to as a Box in the title of this Post) on the long shelves in the fossil vault of Wits University. Come to find out in September when the World was astounded by the find, it was Homo Naledi!!! I will speak more of this greatest find in 50 years in my next post. The point of his post is," Oh my God, we were in the same room with Homo Naledi!" How wild is that?? ( Please feel free to ask a question or make a comment.)

We are All One Species

Like many of you, I have had the fortunate experience to visit several Museums of the Smithsonian in Washington DC. Whether in the African American, Native American, Natural History or American History Museum, I was reminded once again that we are all one species ( Darwin, 1871). There are no differing races. There are no inferior and superior people. We all came from that small group of Modern Humans/Homo sapiens who came Out of Africa in 55,000 BC to inhabit the globe. We were the Aboriginals in Austrailia, the CroMagnons in Europe, and the Native Americans in America. And of course we were the Africans who remained in Africa as the San.

But the point is we are all one species. Once the last Neanderthal died 30,000 years ago we were alone ( almost)  on the planet. At one time there were 13 different premodern human groups living in Africa, but they eventually all became extinct and only one group of humans has survived. That group is us-- Homo Sapiens. We all have the same DNA. We mostly only breed with each other( The Neanderthals being the exception). These  are two defining features of a species. Think about it. We are all one common human species-- the only human species to surive on the earth. And we are all ONE.

This point struck home to me a number of years ago as I studied Human Origins. I thought of it again in 2015 on a tour of Southern African Human Origins fossils. And, I was reminded of it once again while walking through the Natural History and other Smithsonian Museums. In the Natural History Museum I saw our Human Origins story displayed in graphic detail. Suddenly all the Museums of the Smithsonian made sense. They are all about us! . So, the next time you are with any group of people, notice the differences in skin color, body size, facial features, culture, religion, history, sex, gender, etc., etc., etc. And then think, "But wow, we are all ONE."

Learning this scientific truth has changed my understanding of our global human community. If you ponder this truth along with me it might alter your understanding of all of us as well. 

Neuropsychoanalysis/Psychotherapy Consultant

• I want to begin this post with the resources  I use in  consulting with psychoanalytic clinicians  interested in neuropsychoanalysis/psychotherapy: 

I first ask the therapists to  either review  my " Eight Introductory Lectures on Neuropsychoanalysis/Psychotherapy", published here on my Blog (2023), or read my my compilation of these lectures in my (unpublished) Book/Training Manual, An Introduction to Neuropsychoanalytic Psychotherapy ( 2024). Then, in follow up Zoom consultation sessions we discuss and explore these readings. These didactic consultation sessions around these readings provide the clinicians with a sufficient introduction to the theory and technique of neuropsychoanslysis/psychotherapy. They then take this knowledge and apply it in their  work with their patients.  

In addition to working through the Book/Training Manual together,  I encourage the therapists to further read the works  of Mark Solms (the creator of neuropsychoanalysis), Jaak Panksepp, and others listed in my selected bibliography.  

If you are such a psychoanalyst/psychotherapist interested in learning neuropsychoanalytic  psychotherapy theory and technique by reading and discussing these writings with me, please leave a comment here on this  Blog  post and I will contact you. Or, you can email me directly at calanmeltonw@gmail.com. I am happy to offer this consultation as a Clinical Fellow of the International  Neuropsychoanalytic Society.

Why I Love Science

Science is a wonderful thing! It took me a long time to realize that. I spent the first half of my life  in the Christian theological circle. I went to seminary and got a Masters of Divinity degree followed by a Doctor of Ministry degree. From the seminary I became an associate pastor and then a pastor.  While serving in Ministry I studied the progressive theologians, including the Process Theologians.  Moving to the edge of the theological circle,  I became  a panentheist ( see Charles Hartshorne).   From there I  began to explore the philosophical circle-- especially Existentialist and Process Philosophy.  Then, around  the age of 40, I began to more fully embrace the  scientific circle, which  eventually led me to embrace pantheism (The God Spinoza and Einstein, which equates God and nature).              

Once I moved into the science circle, I realized that my first exposure  to the sciences had actually begun in college-- these were the social sciences of sociology, psychology, political science, and cultural anthropology . But it was much later that I began to study the  natural sciences, ie psychoanalysis ( some disagree it is a natural science but I am of the camp that believes it is), neuroscience , biology, biological anthropology, paleoanthropology, earth science and astronomy. (Physics is my latest challenge, but so far I find it the most difficult to understand!)

Fully embracing science has taught me so much about human nature, including my own, and the nature of the universe And the good news is that what I have learned is based in evidence. That is what I like the most about science as a source of truth. It is not based in Revelation like religion. Nor  is it  based only in rational reason and logic as is philosophy.  Science is based in evidence, in facts proven by the scientific method.  A great example of scientific fact finding is the called " Theory"  of Evolution In Darwin's Day, Evolution was a theory. Now it has become a fact. As Richard Dawkins says, "Evolution is a fact, and the evidence for it is as strong as anything we have in science." And Stephen Gould wrote," Evolution is a fact. And the theory of natural selection is one of several mechanisms that explain the fact of evolution." Finally, Carl Sagan said," Evolution is a fact, not a theory.... and the fossil record and the molecular biology all confirm it."

What I also love about science is that  science is not a fixed set of beliefs that are accepted as immutable Truth. Science, even more than philosophy, which is based in reason and logic, is based in observation, hypothesis, experiment and confirmation. And as such its findings are trustworthy because they are based in evidence.

The other beauty of science is it is always open to change and alteration. If a better scientific theory comes along and can be shown to be superior to an established one, the new theory wins. Moving from the Flat Earth Theory to the Round Earth Fact was one example of just such a scientific shift. Christopher Columbus experimented with the theory that the earth was round rather than flat. And, by getting in a boat and sailing to what he thought was India (actually the Americas), he proved his theory correct! His theory, through scientific evidence, became a fact. No one today doubts the earth is round.

To me, this makes science the best source of knowledge we have for discovering truth. That is because in science " facts reign supreme" ( Brenner). And the scientific method is the best tool we have to establish what the facts truly are, because it is based in evidence and proof.

I could go on about why I truly love science, but I think my point has been made. I will simply conclude by saying, science has been a continuous source of trustworthy knowledge for me for the last 36 years. And I look forward to what truth, based on evidence, it will teach me in the future!

My "Introductory Lectures on Neuropsychoanalysis/Psychotherapy and Where to Find Them

My "Introductory Lectures on Neuropsychoanalysis/Psychotherapy"( eight total), published here on my Blog at calanmeltonw.blogspot.com, are NOT all in numerical order.....That is because I wrote them at different times over the last few years. But, they are ALL titled and numbered, so if you scroll around you can FIND all Eight Lectures..... The Lectures begin with the Preface on "Why Psychoanalysis Must be Grounded in Biology", and end with " A Neuropsychoanalysis/Psychotherapy Written Case Presentation Outline". You may wish to print  the lectures out and place them in order.

To Learn More about Neuropsychoanalysis/Psychotherapy, email me directly at calanmeltonw@gmail.com, to learn about my ( unpublished) Book/Training Manual, " An Introduction to Neuropsychoanalytic Psychotherapy". This book DOES group these Lectures into the following order:

Introduction....Preface.....Chapter 1 "How the Patient's Mind Functions".......Chapter 2 "How the Patient's Mind Develops"...... Chapter 3 "How to Treat the Patient's Mind"....Case Presentation Outline..... Conclusion....... Selected Bibliography.

I would be happy to meet on Zoom for consultation and reading through of my Book/Training Manual together. Such consultation will introduce you to both the theory and practice of neuropsychoanalysis/psychotherapy. I am pleased to offer such consultation as a Clinical Fellow of the International Neuropsychoanalysis Society.

We Evolved from the Stuff of Squirrels

Do you realize we evolved from the " stuff of squirrels?"  We modern human animals are mammals. We are vertebrates. We are primates. Do you know the story of how we got here? How we homo sapiens evolved? It is pretty interesting. It all goes back to the day a huge meteor struck the earth creating the greatest dust storm to ever exist. That was 66 million years ago.

It was the age of the dinosaurs. Mammals also existed at that time but they were tiny shrew like creatures, not unlike our modern squirrels. The dust storm caused by the meteor ( which struck the edge of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico ( where I visited a few years back ), killed off the dinosaurs! Matter of fact it killed off most all the animals that could not hide in the ground and escape the dust. And that is why the little shrew like mammals were able to survive. They were small enough to hide underground. Do you know who evolved after these tiny shrew like mammals? The Monkeys. Do you know who evolved after the monkeys? The Great Apes. Do you know who the great apes are? Chimpanzies, bonomos, orangutans, gorillas and humans. ( We share 98% DNA with the chimps.)

I visited the Wits University Fossil Valult in Johannesburg South Africa in 2015. There I saw the famous fossil named the Taung Child. It was found in 1925 by Raymond Dart. It is the skull of a young ape like, bipedal, australopithecus africanus--a 3 million year old prehuman. We modern humans are in their evolutionary line. The next group evolving from these creatures was homo habilis, around 2.5 million years ago. They were known as the Tool Makers. Then about 300,000 years ago ( all in Africa by the way ), anatomical modern humans evolved. And by 150,000 years ago we came on the evolutionary scene--homo sapiens/modern humans. Forty thousand years ago we homo sapiens ( called Cromagnons in Europe) began to paint on cave walls, and 12,000 years ago we created Civilization.

So here we are today in 2023, modern humans/mammals who evolved from those tiny shrew like mammals who survived the dust storm of the Yucatan Meteor. We are made of the same stuff as they are. It is truly amazing! Those creatures in our back yard who love to eat our birdfood are our distant ancestors.

But get this! If that giant meteor had ventured slightly off course and had struck the earth in the open ocean, the catastrophic impact to planet earth would not have been  as great. The dinosaurs may have then survived. And if they had survived the small mammals who escaped from them in holes in the ground, would have not evolved into larger mammals. Do you know what that would have meant? Those small mammals would have not evolved into monkeys, nor the great apes--of  which we are one. Therefore, we modern humans would have not come into being! We would not have existed. We would not have  evolved.  Wow! So you see it was by chance that we evolved from those little shrew like creatures who survived the meteor blast and the resultant extinction of the dinosaurs. And by that unbelievable chance occurrence ( and many others) we homo sapiens/modern humans evolved from the  very "stuff of squirrels!" Pretty amazing.....