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Various comments on whether or not we evolved for long distance running, rock climbing, swimming, whatever. It seems likely that, just as we are omnivores, we

Various comments on whether or not we evolved for long distance running, rock climbing, swimming, whatever. It seems likely that, just as we are omnivores, we evolved to dominate the niche called "generalist," and that's what makes us the baddest mo'fo in the valley.

maxwell 17y ago
In other words, the human body is built for adaptability.
- elblanco 17y ago
  Good point. But why? What evolutionary circumstances pressured our species to select for adaptability?
  - nfnaaron 17y ago
    Not being able to go mammal-a-mammal with a bison, but really wanting to eat one. I think it's a combination of succeeding with what genes you have, in the world you find yourself, where both what you have and your world change randomly and slowly.
elblanco 17y ago
This is a good point. As a species we aren't particularly strong, see particularly well, smell with any acuity, hear with any particular precision, swim particularly fast, run very fast, have natural weapons or any other thing which are typical hallmarks of animals near or at the top of the food chain, like cheetahs, or bears, or wolves etc. But we do lots of things pretty well and relatively efficiently sans our brains. So for example, a cheetah is faster than greased lightening, but it has no endurance. We're no cheetah speed, but we can run a horse to exhaustion or outclimb a bear or hunt in more organized packs than wolves, or find and eat a greater variety (and larger quantity) of food stuffs than a bear...in other words we have a larger variety of ways to extract energy from our environment than any other species, and we can do it in a larger variety of climates, conditions and cirumstances. This ability to extract and utilize energy, from all parts of the foodchain, as well as other kinds of energy than just caloric (fire, fuel, mechanical, etc.), is more the hallmark of "what makes us human" than anything else.

maxwell 17y ago

In other words, the human body is built for adaptability.

elblanco 17y ago
Good point. But why? What evolutionary circumstances pressured our species to select for adaptability?
- nfnaaron 17y ago
  Not being able to go mammal-a-mammal with a bison, but really wanting to eat one. I think it's a combination of succeeding with what genes you have, in the world you find yourself, where both what you have and your world change randomly and slowly.

elblanco 17y ago

This is a good point. As a species we aren't particularly strong, see particularly well, smell with any acuity, hear with any particular precision, swim particularly fast, run very fast, have natural weapons or any other thing which are typical hallmarks of animals near or at the top of the food chain, like cheetahs, or bears, or wolves etc. But we do lots of things pretty well and relatively efficiently sans our brains. So for example, a cheetah is faster than greased lightening, but it has no endurance. We're no cheetah speed, but we can run a horse to exhaustion or outclimb a bear or hunt in more organized packs than wolves, or find and eat a greater variety (and larger quantity) of food stuffs than a bear...in other words we have a larger variety of ways to extract energy from our environment than any other species, and we can do it in a larger variety of climates, conditions and cirumstances. This ability to extract and utilize energy, from all parts of the foodchain, as well as other kinds of energy than just caloric (fire, fuel, mechanical, etc.), is more the hallmark of "what makes us human" than anything else.