Hybrid humanity

The metaphors we use to imagine ourselves shape our understanding. For ages we've depicted our evolution as a tree structure. More recent evidence however imagines it as a hybrid network or braided stream. Same goes for how we understand complexity, often directly associated with evolution.

"Many people living today have a small component of Neanderthal DNA in their genes, suggesting an important role for admixture with archaic human lineages in the evolution of our species. Paleogenetic evidence indicates that hybridization with Neanderthals and other ancient groups occurred multiple times, with our species' history resembling more a network or braided stream than a tree. Clearly the origin of humankind was more complex than previously thought."