3 ms·

Anyone have a tldr on the antelope chase?

anonu 2y ago
I did the boring thing and put the transcript in ChatGPT (but at least the summary makes me want to listen to the episode even more... Maybe there should be different summaries for different people to pick out the things that interest you): The story about the antelope, featured in This American Life, follows Scott Carrier and his brother's attempt to prove a theory that humans evolved to be endurance runners, capable of outrunning animals like pronghorn antelope over long distances. Scott's brother, a biology student, hypothesizes that early humans could have run down big game without weapons by relying on their endurance rather than speed. In the 1980s, they go to Wyoming to test this theory by attempting to chase down antelope in the desert. The idea is to exhaust the antelope by making them run in the heat for a long period. Despite their efforts, the antelope consistently outmaneuver and outrun them, blending into herds and splitting into different directions, making it impossible to follow just one. Scott reflects on the challenges of the endeavor, the limitations of modern life, and the connection to a primitive way of living. Despite failing to catch an antelope, the story highlights the persistence of the human spirit and the desire to understand our ancient origins.
- ptspts 2y ago
  TL;DR TL;DR They have been failing so far: they haven't caught a single sntelope.
- woleium 2y ago
  But.. wouldn’t you mark your target with a dye pack? In the past i assume you'd spear your target then hunt it down?
  - PhasmaFelis 2y ago
    That would be spear hunting. Endurance hunting is where you jog steadily after a faster animal, never allowing it to catch its breath and cool off, until it collapses from exhaustion. Humans have the best long-distance endurance of any land animal in the world, at least in hot dry environments; it's why we have so little hair and so many sweat glands, among other things. There are still African savanna tribes that successfully practice endurance hunting.
    - singleshot_ 2y ago
      Say, isn't this is the opposite of the conclusion of the article?
      - PhasmaFelis 2y ago
        No idea, since the "article" is an hour-long podcast with no option to read it. But I'd venture to guess that "Scott Carrier is incapable of running down an antelope" does not imply "humans are incapable of endurance hunting, full stop."
      - CuriousCosmic 2y ago
        No. The podcast focuses more on the fact that a lot of it is just very difficult for people adapted to modern life. It involves a lot of skills that need to be honed (tracking, long distance jogging, planning, coordination without tech, herding, not getting injured by other wildlife in the process, etc) and it requires strategic planning ahead of time. It's not to say that it's impossible, just that it's a skill that takes over a decade (part time) to do in a way that you have a decent chance of succeeding at. If however this was all you did day in and day out and you had someone experienced guiding you through the process each day, it'd probably take half the time and you'd be successful at the end.
    - morepork 2y ago
      I have read that ostriches can outrun humans as they have a much better running economy due to being able to store more elastic energy in their steps.
      - chrisco255 2y ago
        This is probably true but ostriches are also one of the few two legged runners on the planet.
    - chrisco255 2y ago
      Endurance and spear hunting are not mutually exclusive techniques, they are the same. The African tribes that endurance hunt use spears to make the kill. It's quite difficult to get within spear striking distance of an antelope without a long chase.

I did the boring thing and put the transcript in ChatGPT (but at least the summary makes me want to listen to the episode even more... Maybe there should be different summaries for different people to pick out the things that interest you): The story about the antelope, featured in This American Life, follows Scott Carrier and his brother's attempt to prove a theory that humans evolved to be endurance runners, capable of outrunning animals like pronghorn antelope over long distances. Scott's brother, a biology student, hypothesizes that early humans could have run down big game without weapons by relying on their endurance rather than speed. In the 1980s, they go to Wyoming to test this theory by attempting to chase down antelope in the desert. The idea is to exhaust the antelope by making them run in the heat for a long period. Despite their efforts, the antelope consistently outmaneuver and outrun them, blending into herds and splitting into different directions, making it impossible to follow just one. Scott reflects on the challenges of the endeavor, the limitations of modern life, and the connection to a primitive way of living. Despite failing to catch an antelope, the story highlights the persistence of the human spirit and the desire to understand our ancient origins.

ptspts 2y ago
TL;DR TL;DR They have been failing so far: they haven't caught a single sntelope.
woleium 2y ago
But.. wouldn’t you mark your target with a dye pack? In the past i assume you'd spear your target then hunt it down?
- PhasmaFelis 2y ago
  That would be spear hunting. Endurance hunting is where you jog steadily after a faster animal, never allowing it to catch its breath and cool off, until it collapses from exhaustion. Humans have the best long-distance endurance of any land animal in the world, at least in hot dry environments; it's why we have so little hair and so many sweat glands, among other things. There are still African savanna tribes that successfully practice endurance hunting.
  - singleshot_ 2y ago
    Say, isn't this is the opposite of the conclusion of the article?
    - PhasmaFelis 2y ago
      No idea, since the "article" is an hour-long podcast with no option to read it. But I'd venture to guess that "Scott Carrier is incapable of running down an antelope" does not imply "humans are incapable of endurance hunting, full stop."
    - CuriousCosmic 2y ago
      No. The podcast focuses more on the fact that a lot of it is just very difficult for people adapted to modern life. It involves a lot of skills that need to be honed (tracking, long distance jogging, planning, coordination without tech, herding, not getting injured by other wildlife in the process, etc) and it requires strategic planning ahead of time. It's not to say that it's impossible, just that it's a skill that takes over a decade (part time) to do in a way that you have a decent chance of succeeding at. If however this was all you did day in and day out and you had someone experienced guiding you through the process each day, it'd probably take half the time and you'd be successful at the end.
  - morepork 2y ago
    I have read that ostriches can outrun humans as they have a much better running economy due to being able to store more elastic energy in their steps.
    - chrisco255 2y ago
      This is probably true but ostriches are also one of the few two legged runners on the planet.
  - chrisco255 2y ago
    Endurance and spear hunting are not mutually exclusive techniques, they are the same. The African tribes that endurance hunt use spears to make the kill. It's quite difficult to get within spear striking distance of an antelope without a long chase.