Rogan discussed this theory years back. I’m late. The Why Files did a very popular episode on the book. The author seems to have vanished.
It’s 100% written in the conventional Darwinian humans evolved from monke standards. Outside of that – I enjoyed this so much I went and got the book.
He presents – Neanderthals NASTY – strong, killer, misrepresented as “mostly us.” Has them come out of the north into the middle east and find proto-humans there delicious for food and sex. Credits this event as the trigger to explain the “upper paleolithic revolution/creative explosion” of “behaviorally modern” humans.
I assume he will cover many of my questions/quibbles as in the first ¼ of it he already has addressed quite a few I had going in.
“basic theory being that the unique and atypical traits that set humans apart from all other primates are the result of an evolutionary bottleneck that occurred in the Near East around 110-45,000 years ago as a result of primitive early humans encounter with a highly intelligent predatory hominid; the Neanderthal.”
Why Files decent recap
author’s teaser for book YT video
