4 ms·

I often read comments here comparing our lives to hunter-gatherers, but something to bear in mind is most humans haven’t lived like that for many thousands of y

I often read comments here comparing our lives to hunter-gatherers, but something to bear in mind is most humans haven’t lived like that for many thousands of years. We may have evolved from that, but our bodies are very different to the people who lived like that. Farming has been around for a long time, and a lot of that involves doing the same repetive tasks all day long, and having a relatively stable supply of food.

Florin_Andrei 9y ago
> our bodies are very different to the people who lived like that True, but I think the differences can still be explained 99% by changes in lifestyle. Genetically we are still overwhelmingly similar - with a few tiny differences like lactose tolerance, etc.
jacobolus 9y ago
Not so much “evolved” changes, but human bodies definitely undergo differences in shape depending on use and context. Just look at athletes who start playing different sports from a young age – some of the difference is genetic and selection effects, but training definitely also affects muscle mass, joint flexibility, etc. The nutrient-deficient and unvaried diet, poor hygiene/concentration of people, and difficult menial workload from farming gave us very high infant mortality rate, higher disease rate, shrinking height and all sorts of health problems, repetitive strain leading to bodies just completely worn out by age 50, etc. As people started eating better etc. after getting away from a peasant lifestyle, average height increased by 30cm, infant mortality went way down, life expectancy and quality of life for elderly people went way up, etc. Our bodies to some extent started reverting to their “natural” shape, but of course being bottle-fed, wearing rigid shoes, sitting inside all day staring at close work from birth onward, a diet with increasing amounts of refined sugar/starch and plenty of alcohol etc. has certainly had its physical effects, and is leaving us with small jaws, dental caries, warped feet, inflexible ankles (unable to squat e.g.), decreasing levels of physical strength, back problems, diabetes, dementia in old age, ....

Florin_Andrei 9y ago

> our bodies are very different to the people who lived like that True, but I think the differences can still be explained 99% by changes in lifestyle. Genetically we are still overwhelmingly similar - with a few tiny differences like lactose tolerance, etc.

jacobolus 9y ago

Not so much “evolved” changes, but human bodies definitely undergo differences in shape depending on use and context. Just look at athletes who start playing different sports from a young age – some of the difference is genetic and selection effects, but training definitely also affects muscle mass, joint flexibility, etc. The nutrient-deficient and unvaried diet, poor hygiene/concentration of people, and difficult menial workload from farming gave us very high infant mortality rate, higher disease rate, shrinking height and all sorts of health problems, repetitive strain leading to bodies just completely worn out by age 50, etc. As people started eating better etc. after getting away from a peasant lifestyle, average height increased by 30cm, infant mortality went way down, life expectancy and quality of life for elderly people went way up, etc. Our bodies to some extent started reverting to their “natural” shape, but of course being bottle-fed, wearing rigid shoes, sitting inside all day staring at close work from birth onward, a diet with increasing amounts of refined sugar/starch and plenty of alcohol etc. has certainly had its physical effects, and is leaving us with small jaws, dental caries, warped feet, inflexible ankles (unable to squat e.g.), decreasing levels of physical strength, back problems, diabetes, dementia in old age, ....