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why is it that we sleep better with the sounds of a rainstorm going on? Because we evolved as animals being preyed upon by large predators, big cats, packs of

why is it that we sleep better with the sounds of a rainstorm going on? Because we evolved as animals being preyed upon by large predators, big cats, packs of dogs etc. When our preyed-upon ancestors heard the sounds of a rainstorm they knew that they could sleep because the predators don't usually hunt during a rainstorm, and that the predators could not smell them during a rainstorm. Evolutionarily, selection wise speaking, those who slept during a rainstorm got rested and were better rested afterward, and so were more likely to pass on their genes. The rainstorm is the friend of the prey animal.

jpeterson 13y ago
Sounds vaguely plausible, but do you have any evidence that substantiates this? In particular, "taking shelter in a rainstorm" seems like a pretty far-fetched survival trait.
- squirejons 13y ago
  understand this--the fingerprint of every major environmental factor can be found in our physiology. Rainstorms are a major environmental factor, and they have been such forever, going back many tens of millions of years. What happens in a rainstorm? Animals hunker down. Why? It is safe to do so for prey animals, and it would be unproductive to do otherwise for predators. That history is written in our physiology, just as every major environmental factor is written in our physiology. When I pick up a bug or a leaf or a dog or...any organism, I can see traces of that natural history written onto shape and curve of that organism's body. The dog has sharp teeth, the better to bite its prey, my dear. The leaf has a green skin, the better to turn sunlight into energy, my dear. Of course the rainstorm has left its mark on your physiology. How could it be otherwise. And here is the real mindblower--homo sapiens and american society and all parts of it are also part of the natural world. Political talking points and memes are quasi-organic, and their shapes tell you things about their natural history, too. Mind blown?

jpeterson 13y ago

Sounds vaguely plausible, but do you have any evidence that substantiates this? In particular, "taking shelter in a rainstorm" seems like a pretty far-fetched survival trait.

squirejons 13y ago
understand this--the fingerprint of every major environmental factor can be found in our physiology. Rainstorms are a major environmental factor, and they have been such forever, going back many tens of millions of years. What happens in a rainstorm? Animals hunker down. Why? It is safe to do so for prey animals, and it would be unproductive to do otherwise for predators. That history is written in our physiology, just as every major environmental factor is written in our physiology. When I pick up a bug or a leaf or a dog or...any organism, I can see traces of that natural history written onto shape and curve of that organism's body. The dog has sharp teeth, the better to bite its prey, my dear. The leaf has a green skin, the better to turn sunlight into energy, my dear. Of course the rainstorm has left its mark on your physiology. How could it be otherwise. And here is the real mindblower--homo sapiens and american society and all parts of it are also part of the natural world. Political talking points and memes are quasi-organic, and their shapes tell you things about their natural history, too. Mind blown?