My thinking is that someone found fossils of an animal from years ago, and it did not compare to any animal today. So that's the idea that he thought of. You should really go into the theory of Darwinism, Charles Darwin can explain it better than I can. We have proof of evolution from fossils, DNA study i.e. Our DNA is 90% alike to monkeys, and Embryology. Most animals' embryos look like a human's
It probably started with Aristotle and his studies of biology, and metaphysics. It started with observing life, then how wondering how life and matter came to be. Logical progression.
Maybe you observe things and then depending on you and your brain, the thoughts keep coming, either coherently or randomly. A chain reaction of thought maybe. It leads to more and more refined ideas.
Ideas (or as they are referred to in the scientific community memes) o evolve and are widely considered to be based in wto things, observations, and previous ideas. They are subject to evolution with different sets of selective pressures then organisms.
If you're asking how they first began, the set date is not known, and probably never will be as we rarely can point to a single organism and say, yes he was the point when life first started complex thought. Most likely it was due to the evolution of an increased brain size which in turn allowed an organism to better process information and form useful ideas out of his/her surroundings (i.e. that sharp rock cut me, I should use it to cut up the meat I've been tearing) and so on until we have ideas that are as complex as exist today.
If you're asking how they first began, the set date is not known, and probably never will be as we rarely can point to a single organism and say, yes he was the point when life first started complex thought.
I would add that one's temptation to do this is a result of their conscious faculties playing tricks, telling them "hey, everything had to start somewhere, amirite?"
I mean, sure that's right, but it's not the best focus to take. Try thinking about how you learnt language sometime. Now that you (presumably) can read, you can't really recall the various states of development and more importantly the progression- you more likely think of it as a mere "can read" or "cannot read". But consider this: even now your methods and faculties of thinking are developing- so too will your language.
I say this because it is related to the issue of trying to pinpoint some kind of defining characteristic of 'consciousness'- I think that too can be a misguided endeavor.
@Strop Yes, that's true. Somehow I viewed this as the advancement of knowledge rather then simple ideas (thus the first to use a implemented tool such as rock or whatever for a purpose). However when looking at the simple ideas there was probably multiple stages as you indicated, but looking at this from a generational perspective there were probably steps involved rather then a continual progression as is the case with modern children learning language.
I would add that one's temptation to do this is a result of their conscious faculties playing tricks, telling them "hey, everything had to start somewhere, amirite?"
But this would also have a lot to do with a persons religious views. For example, someone believing in God might just say 'Hey, God created everything for a reason. If this is happening, that is just the way it is supposed to be.' Others however, may be more critical that this, a have a natural curiosity as to how things came about. But I think that with certain ideas and how the develop, this can go even farther back and touch upon a persons view of the world and its creation.