Season 1

Where and when did the Human Spark first ignite? In the caves of France, where 30,000-year-old paintings adorn the walls, as archeologists have long believed? Or at a much earlier time – and on another continent?

Alan Alda sets out to explore the difference between chimpanzees and ourselves, and quickly finds that the scientists studying chimps and other non-human primates are themselves separated into opposing worldviews.

Alan gets a highly detailed scan of his brain. This image is the starting point for a search within his brain – as well as the brains of others – for the essential components of the Human Spark.