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The Ādam Paradox Hypothesis 149
The Qur
ʾān sanctifies ritual:
“Establish prayer for My
remembrance” (Q 20:14).
“Sacrifice to your Lord and pray
” (Q
108:2). Ritual is continuity: from ochre burials to Islamic prayer,
the human impulse to embody belief remains unchanged.
APH interprets ritual as the third permanent system. It stabilized
stories by turning them into acts, ensuring that belief passed not
only through words but through repetition in flesh and memory.
Debates and Thresholds
Scholars disagree on sequencing. Steven Mithen argued language
came first (2006). Roy Rappaport insisted ritual was prior,
stabilizing words through practice (1999). APH suggests
synchrony: language and ritual co-emerged, each reinforcing the
other.
The case of Neanderthals raises further debate. They buried
their dead, used pigments, and perhaps wore ornaments (Zilhão,
2010). But these acts were local and inconsistent. Sparks without
fire. By contrast, Homo sapiens institutionalized symbols into
traditions that lasted.
Gradualists suggest culture accumulated slowly. Ian Tattersall
disagrees:
“There is no evidence for gradual buildup of symbolic
traditions. They appear abruptly, full-blown, as threshold
events” (2012, p. 214). APH concurs. Permanence is not a slope
but a step — a threshold moment when cognition ignited.