Mankind Rising

Mankind Rising

2012, Science  -   44 Comments
7.39
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Ratings: 7.39/10 from 174 users.

Mankind Rising is a computer animated re-imagining of the biological evolution of humanity, beginning with the genetic makeup of the first primordial cell and ending with the emergence of the first bipedal species, Homo erectus.

Beginning 4,000 million years ago, the evolutionary timeline is illustrated here in great depth, tracing the first instance of cell division through the appearance of the first water worm 550 million years ago. The development of the first brain enabled early species to gain sight, one of the first major milestones in early biological development. The first segment of the film takes viewers underwater before emerging onto land, where the story turns to our reptilian and mammalian ancestors.

In addition to the many miracles of biology that have enabled our existence, the film highlights the other factors that have made humanity's survival so spectacular, such as numerous predators and natural disasters of immense scale. A volcanic eruption 225 million years ago lasted half a million years and eliminated 95% of the species on Earth, yet our ancestral species prevailed. Small, shrew-like mammals that superseded the dinosaurs traveled across the continents, spreading seeds and therefore food sources and life across the planet.

This ultimately lead to the appearance of primates, perhaps the greatest turning point in our evolutionary history. Over the course of the next ten million years, however, climate changes decreased the size of forests and impacted the availability of food, creating yet another shift in the biological makeup of Earth and its inhabitants. The need to travel greater distances and obtain a broader variety of nutrients required yet another step in evolution, paving the way for Homo erectus, who demonstrated an ability to problem solve, use tools, communicate, and manage fire. From here social constructs such as family and competitive behavior came forth.

Mankind Rising uses computer graphics and voice-over storytelling to create a dramatic narrative that is on par with the videos one might watch in a high school science class. It walks the viewer through the entire early history of mankind, shining light on the countless challenges and obstacles that were faced along the way.

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ERO
ERO
6 months ago

Good

Geo
Geo
5 years ago

It seems clear people believe what they want, be it one thing or another. Who is hurt by believing the truth, that we don't actually know. To claim we do is the lie and the harm.

Why is it so important to think a theory, if evolution can be considered a theory rather than a hypothesis, is a fact?

That is very important to those who want to enslave the world, the collectivist globalists.
They arrogantly claim "evolution is a fact" or "science supports evolution" in their schools.

And what good is that claim if other parts of science DOES NOT support evolution? It is good for them because you will likely believe the rest of their propaganda which stems from the false premise that certain men should rule over other men and that govt is how to do good. Most evidence demonstrates the contrary.

Propaganda is often limiting information in support of an agenda.

One thing is for certain. The "evolution" of Arrogance and Ego benefit the world how?

So what if you prefer one THEORY (not fact) over another. Does that preference give you license to belittle others? No more than someone else's preference for a different theory, to belittle the others.

Going to a university class does not make your preferred theory more valid. It clearly makes people more arrogant and think they know much more than they do.

A real scientist would know that the more they find out, the more questions they have. Some after many years of slice and dicing and looking in microscopes come to realize that there must have been a creator. Others have egos which prevent them from learning all sorts of things that are beyond the physical world.

clayton
clayton
6 years ago

I really enjoyed this. Amazing to read through the comments though. How many people object to the subject of evolution who obviously do not understand or refuse to understand the mechanics/process . The visual morphing is to display transition over large amounts of time. The specific naming of species throughout was great to see. Based on palaeontology and real life research over the years. Great stuff. One day (hopefully) this will be common knowledge. There are a few bits and bobs that are speculative, such as the lucky bringing together of cells-come-genes covered in a blob of just as lucky oil, however we will know for sure one day...unless we revert back to gods and such like ideas.

Pteronarcyd
Pteronarcyd
6 years ago

Lost me at the outset when it foisted abiogenesis as an accepted, proven theory.

GodKing
GodKing
6 years ago

My only real complaint with the documentary was how the narration treated natural selection. It was almost treated like a wheel of fortune that just randomly boosts your stats at the end of an epoch. In reality, natural selection just means that the people who are more likely to reproduce will do so, thus increasing their chances of having their genes passed down.

LightningStriker
LightningStriker
6 years ago

Less than 2% of all scientific capacities are actually proven. Evolution is plausible but by no means answers all the questions. There are too many events that occurred well beyond of which a scientific explanation can provide... an absolute is, if we were formed, then there are duplicate formations elsewhere.

Wilma
Wilma
6 years ago

When you actually read what Darwin wrote about what he didn't prove, when you read it then get back to me.

DustUp
DustUp
6 years ago

There is no proof of evolution (of one specie developing into another). Zero. If you actually read Darwin, he didn't prove it at all. Left it "for others to prove." Which they cannot. Those who promote the evil of collectivism(Marxism, Communism, Socialism, Progessivism, Corporatism, etc) justify it with and heavily promote the fraud of evolution. It isn't even an actual theory, it is a failed or unproven hypothesis.

There is proof that if a specie modifies too far from the original, it reverts back or dead ends. A mule is an example of a dead end. For those that don't know, a mule is a cross between a donkey and a horse. Mules cannot procreate. If evolution were true, why not mules procreate themselves just like donkeys and horses?

Jostein
Jostein
6 years ago

Yes Gunnar, WE are the problem. We ARE the sixt extension. An evil, intelligent and
resistant bacteria, taking over every inch.. Time to wipe us out!

Urban dweller
Urban dweller
6 years ago

I can believe the immaculate conception more than this "documentary!" And I'm not even a creationist! I'd even believe aliens over this! Who wasted their valuable time and resources to make this?

bobby
bobby
6 years ago

speculation and supposition passed off as fact can only be detrimental to true scientific study.

Ray Alex
Ray Alex
6 years ago

More crap about us coming from the sea and so on...."Dovid Witkowski" awesome comment man!

Jack Fortin
Jack Fortin
7 years ago

I used to think that belief in a deity was irrational. The more I learn about things the more I come to understand that atheism is irrational. Too many questions remain unanswered and the basis for the theories just become even greater stretches.
The primordial ooze ... It seemed a sure thing as the theory was advanced but in spite of all our technology, we as humans have been unable to create life. We can mess with it but we can't even create something as simple as a virus from scratch.

Miqdam
Miqdam
7 years ago

Do not do LSD

Dr Spacedog
Dr Spacedog
7 years ago

The initial stages of life, the suggestion that genes were spontaneously formed and then engulfed in a lipid envelope sadly lacks scientific credibility. Simple self replication molecules are more likely to have predated the even as described.

David Harding
David Harding
8 years ago

cool doc. An overview of some of the adaptions of our evolutionary past, encapsulated in a watchable condensed chunk.

Stefan
Stefan
8 years ago

Don't watch this documentary if you're older than 10 and have some knowledge of biology and etc.

Darwin26
Darwin26
8 years ago

It was very disappointing, what happened to Noah's Ark ? Obviously Jesus came from Montana, essentially ~ Sex is basic ~ so there's no reason for an age of consent ~ sheeeesh; How are we gonna evolve if we don't have sex with our family?
Republicans are still at the level of Homo Erectus except for the Predator class like Hillary and Cruz. We must stamp out this spike in the evolutionary chain before they prey on us... amen

onestrainofDNAonestrandoflife
onestrainofDNAonestrandoflife
8 years ago

i used to beleive that is was possible for a human soul and afterlife to exist and that we couldn't have came from monkeys "why would there still be monkeys?" , "why is there no beings on the cusp of being human today" i was at the point becuase of gaps in my knowledge i hadn't been taught in school a comprehensive overview of our current state of knowledge regarding these issues and even though it was only a few big gaps in certain disciplines i was ignorant of it made every difference for my world view, as i began self researching the topics of biology and dna and archaeology as well as other scientific areas i couldn't believe how ambiguous our society is regarding of educated to children regarding the facts but when you look at the implications of such knowledge it destroys the world religions and spirituality of all types andd it began to make sense why the truth is more hidden then it should be.

onestrainofDNAonestrandoflife
onestrainofDNAonestrandoflife
8 years ago

we are star dust that over billions of years went from simple bacteria through all life forms to arrive where we are today there is more evidence of this then things everybody accepts without question.

Rachael
Rachael
8 years ago

I found the documentary easy to watch but simplistic. It left me with the impression that there has been a lot of guesswork as to how we have come to be in our present form. My gut instinct tells me that there was more than a tiny chance of life developing on earth and I suspect that species evolve in similar ways at times and in almost opposite ways at other times depending on a number of factors. The question that isn't answered at all by this documentary is what gave life (i.e. a single cell) the drive to multiply itself in the first place. I'm not religious but there does seem to be something missing from this picture.

Muaddib
Muaddib
8 years ago

I find it hilarious that Gunnar would say that "we are the only species that threaten the existence of all life", and completely ignores the fact that we are the only species that has the perception and power to save the Earth. No other animal on this planet has a moral drive to protect the planet, or if they did, they couldn't do anything about it.

Tauceti
Tauceti
8 years ago

This visual documentary is more then adequate by providing broad strokes of evolution that focuses on key milestones that eventually leads to the end game that is currently modern man. If you find it has short comings, I suggest delving further into other source material, be it books, detailed documentary's, etc. that may provide extensive detail as this documentary just whets the the knowledge appetite of this genera.

Gizem
Gizem
8 years ago

I love this doc.

Gunnar
Gunnar
8 years ago

...we're spoiled with graphics these days...it's not that easy to produce a thing like this...
What I'm not crazy about is the apparent "homo sapience" worship if you will...we do not have the largest brains, at all...but even with the large brain we do have, we are the only species that threaten the existence of all life, on the very planet that spawned us...
So for that reason, humans are an insult to Planet Earth
The only thing that matters...is the integrity of the biosphere...and the only problem is an out of control human presence...

Stephen
Stephen
8 years ago

For a low cost independent film I thought that doc was interesting to watch. While not a biologist or evolutionary biologist, I thought the inclusion of academics in the credits gave this film a high degree of scientific basis in fact or least what we know so far. It does not get into the details of evolution but provides a big picture and key turning points in our own evolution.

I really didn't think this doc had an over emphasis on sex as one viewer pointed out and calling it "garbage" just underscores ones lack of appreciation of how knowledge is summarized in broad strokes.

tcarson
tcarson
8 years ago

As a Coles Notes of human evolution I think it very good, perhaps it's just that I haven't evolved quite as fast as those with the above comments and I'm not sure I want to. Give it a look, it's a 45' video doc, not a 4 year post grad doctorate.

Martin Hedington
Martin Hedington
8 years ago

Frankly, I think this is perfect fodder to counter the creationist garbage aimed at say 8 to 10-year-olds. Simplistic perhaps but a lot more understandable and logical than the 'seven day event' espoused by deists.

Nin
Nin
8 years ago

I was wondering why the ratings were so low. I'm pretty interested in this stuff myself, and throughout the whole doc, I kept giving it the benefit of doubt, but somewhere around the halfway mark, morale just dropped below critical levels... Mann!! The narrator was so robotic, and he just kept talking about SEX! This doc looks like it promotes species to species evolution when he keeps saying, "we're this, we're that", but that's not true, each species is located at the end of an evolutionary node. I don't like how the narrator keeps on bringing in vaguely-relatable points like hic-ups and goosebumps, and the "next time you squash a bug". It's not funny, it's just childish. there are so many stupid things he says, it's not the narrator, it's the script obviously, but "humans have pound for pound the largest brains?? are you kidding me? There are quite a few animals more encephalized than humans, rats for example.. omg, this doc is garbage. very deserving of such a low rating.

Dovid Witkowski
Dovid Witkowski
8 years ago

There's more intellectual gravitas in a Tom and Jerry cartoon than this load of baloney!The voice over commentator contradicts himself right at the beginning by asserting that the narrative he is describing is in fact highly improbable! This type of pseudo science is ideally suited to an generation of adults who have been rendered entirely stupid having been subjected to a system of mind numbing indoctrination in the guise of education. It is well known that in the 1850's a Prussian form of mind control was imported to America as described in the book the Leipzig Connection specifically NOT to produce a nation of well educated, well informed critical thinkers. The reason being that such a population would never have willingly submitted itself to a mind crushing regime as demanded by the endless repetitive processes of the factory production line.

pat
pat
8 years ago

Yes we come from under a rock ;)