Did Tools Create Humans?

Abstract

The conception and creation of tools, their design, refinements and uses are traditionally viewed as being direct elaborations of inherent human capabilities. Here, we offer an alternative to this traditional perspective. Using a tool to complete any given task serves to change that task which, in turn, impacts and alters the tools’ user via the performance of current and subsequent tasks. Moreover, as each task evolves, humans have come to shape additional tools to respond accordingly. These ever-increasing complexifications then serve to stimulate expansion in inherent human cognitive capabilities themselves. Here, we do not view humans as the initial creators of tools. Rather, the a priori presence of tools in the ambient environment explains, ab initio, why the species homo sapiens has evolved in the way that history records. We thus propose that tools create humans. The subsequent symbiosis between humans and those tools, portrayed as a cumulative spiral structure, serves to frame this evolution of elaborative technologies that have been used across time to achieve socially desired objectives. From our premise, we envision evident lines of progress that can be anticipated for the future of this human-tool dyad.

Keywords:

• Human-tool symbiosis
• human-machine interaction
• tool use
• technology
• evolution

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Professor Tal Oron-Gilad for her insights and comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. Preparation of the manuscript was made possible by mobility supported by J.N. IUF grant.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the LABEX CORTEX (ANR-11-LABX-0042) of Université de Lyon, within the program ‘Investissements d’Avenir’ (ANR-11-IDEX-0007) operated by the French National Research Agency (ANR).

Notes on contributors

J. Navarro

J. Navarro is a professor in psychology and cognitive sciences at the University of Lyon appointed at Junior Member of the “Institut Universitaire de France”. He received the PhD degree in cognitive ergonomics from the University of Nantes in 2008. He also spent one year at Monash University Research Accident Center as a research fellow. His research interests focus on human-technologies relationships, particularly with advanced vehicle technologies and automation.

P. A. Hancock

P.A. Hancock is Provost Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute for Simulation and Training at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. His interests concern human interaction with all forms of technology and a detailed study of time. He earned his Ph. D from the University of Illinois in 1983. He was President of HFES in 2000 and in 2020 was again President of the Society.