Edward Bynum – Our African Unconscious. 27 September 2023

This presentation, without slides, was based on the remarkable book of the same title which was reviewed by David Lorimer in Paradigm Explorer (No 140, 2022/3). The first half of the talk detailed how biologically and psychologically we as a species evolved in Africa. The second half of the talk described how our ego consciousness developed from an older deeper communal consciousness. Essentially “we” became “me”.

According to the fossil record, numerous highly diverse species of Miocene apes emerged around 12 million years ago. Our hominid ancestors diverged from the chimpanzee lineage between 8 to 6 million years ago when the climate changed dramatically to become dryer. Rain forests receded as the savannas grew whilst tectonic forces created the great Rift Valley in East Africa. By around 4 million years ago Ardipithecus ramidus had evolved to walk upright although she was not fully bipedal. Various species of australopithecines evolved with brains approximately the size of modern chimpanzees. At the most they were only 4 feet tall so they were vulnerable to predation by large cats. More extreme fluctuations with cycles of global cooling began 2.5 million years ago.

Australopithecines brain sizes began to increase as they fashioned tools, lived in large family groups and may have begun using fire. Endocasts from inside the skulls of Homo habilis indicate an enlarged Broca’s area suggesting the emergence of rudimentary vocal communication at least 2 million years ago. The first fully bipedal hominids walked tall and Homo erectus began migrating from Africa into Eurasia around 1.6 million years ago. Whilst there were considerable subsequent migrations back and forth in and out of Africa, our own species, Homo sapiens sapiens, evolved in Africa more than 200,000 years ago. The genetic mother and father of everybody alive today (Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam) lived in Africa around this time. Whilst surface adaptations such as skin pigmentation and facial features differ between races, underneath genetically we are all the same species.

The second half of the talk described significant psychological revolutions during our cultural evolution which are now embedded within our collective unconscious. The dawn of consciousness extends back long before the birth of our species and our individual birth. After we are born, others know us before we know ourselves. The “we” came first, the “me” came later. Originally, we did not perceive death but instead saw things transforming and metamorphosing into other things. This is mirrored during infancy where only later can children abstract what death may mean. In human evolution this realisation occurred more than 100,000 years ago when Anatomically Modern Humans and Homo sapiens neanderthalensis began to bury their dead with grave goods. The mystery of birth, the importance of fertility and the cultivation of crops led us away from our hunter-gatherer roots towards more matriarchal societies.

[full review on SMN website]

Before a lively Q & A session, Bruce ended his talk on a very optimistic note. When faced with the challenge of climate change and ecological crises our species has repeatedly transformed itself. In understanding our ancient communal African unconscious, humanity will be transformed again. We will more fully realise that not only are we all one species but we will recognise at a deeper level that we are all one communal consciousness living through each other. In reconnecting with the light of this primary consciousness our materialistic and atomistic thinking will be transformed. Rampant egoism, predatory capitalism, nationalism and identity politics will give way to an increased sense of oneness, interconnectedness, togetherness and a desire to cooperate more with one another.

Report by Dr Peter Eastham