Linear vs Non-Linear Thinking

Yes, I know that I have too much time on my hands. But, I get to. I spent most of my life as a part of the gross national product. That means trading my time for money starting at age 15, by the way. I am not questioning the decisions that I made between 15 and 73. There is no Return on Investment there. But, Now that I have the Time and the Resources (Google search) to see how humanity spent their time in the past I ponder this question a lot.

Now, on to the point of this discourse. What is it that makes me a thinking animal? I wanted to go back to the beginning so I went back 350,000 years or so. What made this person a thinking animal? Was it the same data points directing him as me starting in 1968? I don’t imagine he had the time to ponder like I do. If he wanted to keep breathing, he had to think constantly, and he had to be aware of everything surrounding him and assume nothing. Thinking on his feet started here. From my perspective, this is the beginning of humanity’s non-linear thinking potential, multitasking par excellence. If he misjudged his potential lunch he could become his lunch’s lunch. It also made him self-centered, short sighted, and violent.

I think these traits served humanity well up until the Industrial Revolution when this human man had to become a mindless cog in a machine, a linear model. This was the beginning of the forced imposition of mechanization upon this 350,000 year old non-linear thinking human.

Neanderthal Human

How is this working for you? Does it explain anything? Also, I cannot stop this thread here or this thread itself becomes linear. Expect more on Non-linear vs Linear.