How have humans climbed to the top of the ‘food chain’ as it were? If we weren’t designed, and had to evolve, how did we survive as a species long enough to develop superior intellect? I mean, we have NO skills that would keep us alive in nature except our brains.
Jesus christ! where are the big titty threads, I can’t be opining on these high-brow topics all day what with my very urgent and important work demands…
But I will say,
We only survived as a species BECAUSE we evolved. As I was informed by the discovery channel, long story short, cavemen were scavengers who ate bone marrow from the carcasses of dead animals, thus making their brains grow. From there they started hunting. And then due to environmental changes, they adapted as bipeds. And well you know the rest.
We do have one awesome skill though, and that is procreation. Humans are amazing fuckers - quite literally. Couple that with brain power and this is how we’re at the top of the food chain. Supply and demand = think up ways to eat all the other creatures and/or destroy their habitats.
Go us!
ps. I hear alligators are evolving in way that makes them more mobile on land - don’t tell Florida…heehee
There are theories that suggest that early Humans were scavengers. Scavenging is highly lucrative means of obtaining food . This ability to regularly obtain food would give humans a better ability to mate with success allowing for greater gene flow etc. This higher success rate in mating increases the rate at which genetic mutation might be seen. The genetic mutations cause new biological traits (larger brains , bigger teeth, whatever really) and through the process of selective advantage if the larger brains become more beneficial for survival that animal will be more likely to successfully breed, and in doing so will have greater gene flow of his characteristic (larger brain) . I am leaving a lot out but just one way of looking at things. Any Physical anthropologists , or evolutionary biologists could most lil explain it better than I just attempted to.
A few of us have brains to cover for the ones that don’t…
the illusion of the creator drives progress.
most things have roots in devotion to a god.
no thought of a god, we are animals who would fight and kill each other at will
before atheists chime in, you are governed by laws that resemble those in scripture
this isnt limited to western religions, all culture aim to please some “force”
I’m assuming we are the only ones who worship.
this is my new favorite thread.
i’ll be back later when i’m not distracted at work so i can geek out all over the place.
cus we r smrt
nevermind, rockula just turned the thread into a religious debate.
peace.
[quote]Airtruth wrote:
A few of us have brains to cover for the ones that don’t…[/quote]
I think this is a VERY BIG part of it.
A lot of people have the intelligence to understand the concepts that humans have discovered that give them advantages over other species, but only a few have the intelligence to actually discover them. Only a few people have the creativity to come up with creative solutions to problems that we face, although many can understand how the solution works after it’s laid out for them.
A few geniuses really paved the way for the rest of us.
There are other factors too [like language for example], but this ones a big one IMO.
[quote]honest_lifter wrote:
How have humans climbed to the top of the ‘food chain’ as it were? If we weren’t designed, and had to evolve, how did we survive as a species long enough to develop superior intellect? I mean, we have NO skills that would keep us alive in nature except our brains.[/quote]
You have not understood the basic principles of evolution, and your argument is based on incorrect assumptions. You’re claiming that modern humans (homo sapiens) would not have survived, but that is ludicrous because we have evolved from other species. Essentially you’re saying that evolution is impossible assuming evolution didn’t happen. Therefore this is not even an argument against evolution.
[quote]Mascherano wrote:
ps. I hear alligators are evolving in way that makes them more mobile on land - don’t tell Florida…heehee[/quote]
Ah shit.
[quote]WormwoodTheory wrote:
nevermind, rockula just turned the thread into a religious debate.
peace.[/quote]
oh man, you’re right! let me fix that real quick.
[quote]Rhino Jockey wrote:
[quote]Mascherano wrote:
ps. I hear alligators are evolving in way that makes them more mobile on land - don’t tell Florida…heehee[/quote]
Ah shit. [/quote]
Don’t worry. It’ll take a few hundred million for them to become truly formidable.
[quote]Vicomte wrote:
cus we r smrt[/quote]
The more time I spend on the interwebs, the less I believe this.
/b/ has driven all my faith in humanity straight to hell.
One of the most interesting theories I’ve ever read on the topic is that we evolved because we are built, biomechanically speaking, for slow long-distance running. There’s an evolutionary biologist at the University of Utah who does a lot of work with the evolution of bipedal locomotion, and what’s interesting is that he believes we evolved to be long distance runners. One of the long standing questions in evolutionary biology is why homo sapiens and not homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthals) ended up being the dominant species - because the Neanderthal was stronger, had a larger brain, and would appear to be the dominant species. This guy at the U of U believes that early homo sapiens, being smaller and leaner, gained the evolutionary advantage by being able to literally run down food - while deer are extremely adept at running quickly and getting away over a short distance, early homo sapiens (and modern-day marathon runners) were able to pursue the deer long enough to wear it down and catch it. Supposedly as recently as 100 years ago there were primitive groups of people who still hunted this way. I realize this is a strange theory to bring up on a website where most of us are trying to look like Neanderthals…
There’s an interesting chapter about this theory and how it relates to modern-day long distance running in the book “Born to Run”, which is an extremely fascinating read about ultra-marathon running and barefoot running.
[quote]GoingViking wrote:
One of the most interesting theories I’ve ever read on the topic is that we evolved because we are built, biomechanically speaking, for slow long-distance running. There’s an evolutionary biologist at the University of Utah who does a lot of work with the evolution of bipedal locomotion, and what’s interesting is that he believes we evolved to be long distance runners. One of the long standing questions in evolutionary biology is why homo sapiens and not homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthals) ended up being the dominant species - because the Neanderthal was stronger, had a larger brain, and would appear to be the dominant species. This guy at the U of U believes that early homo sapiens, being smaller and leaner, gained the evolutionary advantage by being able to literally run down food - while deer are extremely adept at running quickly and getting away over a short distance, early homo sapiens (and modern-day marathon runners) were able to pursue the deer long enough to wear it down and catch it. Supposedly as recently as 100 years ago there were primitive groups of people who still hunted this way. I realize this is a strange theory to bring up on a website where most of us are trying to look like Neanderthals…
There’s an interesting chapter about this theory and how it relates to modern-day long distance running in the book “Born to Run”, which is an extremely fascinating read about ultra-marathon running and barefoot running.[/quote]
There was actually an article here that went over that stuff. I think it was a Berardi article. Or an interview with him…
Not really. We’re just pack animals. It’s beneficial to us from a survival standpoint not to kill each other on a whim.
Why are humans superior? I dunno, but the answer isn’t god.
Imo, humans are superior because of their social nature and culture. I’m using culture in the sense of pooling our intellectual knowledge and passing it to other generations. We only needed to invent the spear once (well, maybe a few times), and can then pass it to other generations. We have hunting/farming practices handed down from our forefathers, etc.
Humans, as social animals can take advantage of all the talents of the other humans in their group. That, coupled with brains, the ability to pass knowledge along to generations and our opposable (sp?) thumb makes us so much better/successful.
I was just hoping that he was asking an honest question. I didn’t really read his post as an argument against evolution.
[quote]Ronsauce wrote:
Not really. We’re just pack animals. It’s beneficial to us from a survival standpoint not to kill each other on a whim.
Why are humans superior? I dunno, but the answer isn’t god.
[/quote]
That god illusion is a deterrent for a pack member to kill another pack member. if you want to control the people in the pack, make them fear being punished forever or promise them rewards forever. humans are tied to culture “beliefs” are a foundation of that.
I think if nobody heard of heaven/hell they’d be animals. Look at feral children, they don’t care if they hurt you, they have no god to fear. They’ll eat you and think nothing of it. Religion is no doubt a player in our societal development.Even if that religion is just government tool to control the pack “gods” do determine a big portion.
there is no one answer but “god” is one of them. There’s no way to deny the impact of religion.