• optional@sh.itjust.works
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    2 days ago

    Maybe it’s just lost in translation. In my native language we’d call homo erectus etc. (primal) humans, so for me they are part of the humankind although they’re not modern humans.

    • WhatsTheHoldup@lemmy.ml
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      1 day ago

      You are correct. The word “homo” literally means human.

      Homo sapiens are the only living humans, but Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus, Homo Neanderthalus are all humans also.

      However we usually use the term “archaic human” or even change human to “hominid” to prevent confusion between “modern humans”.

      You weren’t wrong, but this is a kind of jargon which can confuse people.

    • bpev@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I don’t know what I expected when I started scrolling through comments, but I certainly didn’t expect "how long humanity has survived depends on how you define ‘people’ "