Stone age & Prehistoric psychological thoughts

Question 1

Neolithic human brain and IQ were already well developed, allowing to (4)

Answer 1

(1) Survive in harsh conditions (climate, cataclysms, attacks of wild beasts, illnesses)
(2) communicate, share, hunt, play, pray, and create social life
(3) reflect on the powerful forces of nature and superior divine powers
(4) behaviour and its animating agency, the anima, soul or psyche

Question 2

The old and new ways of understanding the mechanism of action (epistemology) (6)

Answer 2

(1) Anthropomorphism
(2) Animism
(3) Magic
(4) Religion
(5) Philosophy
(6) Scientific Psychology

Question 3

Anthropomorphism def

Answer 3

From Greek: anthrōpos =human; morphē =a form (resemblance)
An attribution of HUMAN characteristics/thoughts & feelings to: other persons, gods, animals, forces of nature, non-living objects
=> Everything is animated by the spirit, like the human spirit

Question 4

Animism def

Answer 4

ANIMA as the powerful agent residing within the organism or an object.
The anima is located within the LIVING ORGANISMS ONLY (human/animal): when it leaves, the body dies
-> CLOSE LINK between body and anima

Question 5

Anima sometimes also called

Answer 5

Pneuma (breath of life), Soul

Question 6

Animism - Can the anima leave the body?

Answer 6

Can leave the organism in cases of dreams - you can visit other anima.
-> The body is alive so long as the anima resides within it
-> The body dies at the moment the anima (breath of life) leaves it

Question 7

Magic way of understanding def

Answer 7

“Spirit”, not anima. Body does NOT die when the anima (spirit) leaves it temporarily. The human IMMORTAL spirit is a part of the powerful cosmic Spirit
-> Spirit has the power of strength (which animates/controls/influences the body of its owner) + visits other persons/objets and exercises its power in their dreams and actions.
-> LOOSE LINK between body and anima

Question 8

In the “magic” way of understanding, an individual spirit is …. (3)

Answer 8

(1) A part of the cosmic Spirit, thus eternal -> Not dying after death of physical body
(2) Detachable and mobile
(3) Controlling its habitat and other person/object (might be good or bad)

Question 9

Religion way of understanding def

Answer 9

Belief that human actions are monitored, judged and influenced by cosmic, divine power and by the soul as its representative agency installed temporarily in the human mind.
Divine privileges and obligations: (responsibility, carrying, moral conduct…)
Belief in the afterlife and reunification with God
-> To deserve eternity, the human soul observes the divine rules of ethics

Question 10

Philosophy way of understanding def

Answer 10

Switched attention to more cosmic issues - how do we exist in the universe. Meaning, destiny… -> ontology, epistemology, ethics, meaning/purpose of existence, human destiny…
-> The search for meaning transcending physical limitation guides us

Question 11

Scientific psychology def

Answer 11

A rational and methodologically strict study of the biological, socio-cultural and experiential mechanisms of the: behavior, psyche (awareness) and mind (consciousness)

Question 12

Documents about ancestral lifestyle & mentality (5)

Answer 12

(1) Archaeological sites & incriptions (e.g. wall & coffin texts)
(2) Scripts & Holy books (e.g. Book of the Dead, legal codes, Bible, Vedas)
(3) Mythologies, (e.g. Dreamtime stories, Sagas, Greek mythology)
(4) Prophetic teaching, (e.g. Abraham, Confucius, Buddha)
(5) Archaic philosophies, (e.g. ethos and laws in Europe and Asia)

Question 13

Order of Ages

Answer 13

STONE (Stones for tools/weapons)
BRONZE (Bronze for tools/weapons + ornaments. Humans better prepared to defend, hunt and produce new tools)
IRON (Iron for tools/weapons. New European communities emerged & established themselves.)
SILICONE (Information as tool/weapon)

Question 14

Stone age - grossomodo

Answer 14

• Aborigines in Australia
• European pro-magnon caves
• Hunter-gathering nomadic communities
• From nomadic to civic lifestyle

Question 15

Bronze age - grossomodo

Answer 15

• Sumeria (Gilgamesh), Old Babylonia (Hammurabi code)
• Egypt (hieroglyphs)
• Minoan civilization (Crete, Knossos), Greek Alphabet
• China (1st dynasty)
• Hebrews
• Mycenaeans, Dorians, Ionian Greeks (Troy)
  End = Climatic/Seismic cataclysms. Collapse of many cultures & demographic crises

Question 16

Iron age- grossomodo

Answer 16

• Pre-Classic: Hebrews, Persian Zorostrarians, Ancient Rome
• Classic: Roman kingdom
• Hellenistic period
• Roman period
• Medieval period
• Renaissance
• Scientific revolution
• Naturalism/industrial/social revolutions
• Pragmatism/materialism/sexual revolution

Question 17

Hunter-gathering communities in Europe, Asia, Africa, N. & S. America - How were they?

Answer 17

(1) Nomadic lifestyle dictated by natural circumstances (climate, shelter, food…)
-> Move from one place to another to avoid natural threats or escape attacks
(2) Cave wall paintings expressed their triumphs after hunting, religious rites & symbols of society
(3) Caves

Question 18

Paleolithic tribes, _______, resided in _____ in southern France.

Answer 18

Cro-Magnons, caves
E.g. Chauvet, Lascaux, Altamira cave paintings, cults

Question 19

Dreamtime mythology of Aborigines

Answer 19

Profound sense of connection with nature/universe. Reality both material & spiritual.
The presence, past and future are intertwined and friendly - Dreamtime is a period on a continuum of past, present and future.
The Spirits inhabit the entire Universe, they’re everywhere (plants/rocks/animals/humans…)
Any form of life = sacred → no distinction between profanum and sacrum, they’re integrated

Question 20

A ____________ has gradually replaced the __________________ of human ancestors.

Answer 20

sensory-pragmatic orientation; intuitive, spontaneous orientative skills

Question 21

Profanum and Sacrum def

Answer 21

Profanum: sensory perception and thinking
Sacrum: intuitive, numinous experience
-> In aborigines, no differenciation

Question 22

Numinous experience def

Answer 22

Highly spiritual, intangible, contemplative and intuitive phenomenon. Numinous experience of belonging to the Universe: its magnificient greatness and beauty.
Has 2 components: Mysterium tremendum & fascinans

Question 23

Numinous experience has 2 components, what are they?

Answer 23

Mysterium tremendum: tremendous fear, thrill, and respect
Mysterium fascinans: fascinating awe, delight, bliss, and admiration

Question 24

What enabled nomadic communities to stay in permanent settlements?

Answer 24

Postglacial climate stabilization created better conditions.

Question 25

From nomadic to civic lifestyle - how did it look like? And where was it?

Answer 25

• Lived in natural caves or within natural geotectonic formations (e.g. Jericho Walls, Tel-As-Sultan)
• Started constructing the first shelters (huts, houses, ritual sites, temples…)
• Permanent settlements in villages/small towns → First civilizations
  => Settlements and early civilizations in Mesopotamian Sumeria, Greece, Egypt, China!!!

Question 26

Where started the first settlements and early civilizations?

Answer 26

Mesopotamian Sumeria, Greece, Egypt, China