Did Meditating make us Human ?

Did Meditating make us Human? Matt J. Rossano Abstract This paper proposes that campfire rituals of focused attention created Baldwiniantype selection pressure for enhanced working memory capacity among our Homo sapiens ancestors. This model is grounded in five propositions including: that the emergence of symbolism occurred late in the archaeological record, that this emergence was caused by a fortuitous genetic mutation that enhanced working memory capacity, that a Baldwinian process where genetic adaptation follows somatic adaptation accounts for the mechanism of this emergence, that mediation directly affects brain areas critical to attention and working memory, and that shamanistic healing rituals were fitness-enhancing in our evolutionary past. Each proposition is discussed and defended; supportive evidence and potential future tests are presented.