Your Favorite Wins!!

[ascanius]

First you disagree, then you point out that we use our brains to catch our prey and to survive, totally backing up exactly what I've been saying. Using a stick to beat a bear to death is using a "tool", which is something attributed to higher intelligence.

That is the reason we survived. It was by no means through physical strength or even endurance. Take away the spear or barb as you say, and you will never catch or kill said deer. Intelligence was required to use tools to do so.

I would also mention that "Survival of the fittest" is actually a common fallacy. Strength is not what determines survival or natural selection, only the species ability to procreate and protect those young. Humans are good at procreating (mating season is year-round) and we protected our young in communities with weapons (tools). Tools that required intelligence to figure out how to use or invent and refine.

Read the article. Tools only facilitated an easier catch, not the catch in and of itself. A person, on a hot day, can outrun (endurance wise) a horse in a marathon.

[Atelo]

Read the article. Tools only facilitated an easier catch, not the catch in and of itself. A person, on a hot day, can outrun a horse in a marathon.

I did read it. Horses can sweat btw, humans are not the only ones. The article simply states a human could outrun a horse in a 26.2 mile marathon but it does not say if they tested it, nor does it say if the horse is attempting to sprint the entire way or take it at a pace.

For example, there is the Tevis Cup, (this link is the best description I can find) which is basically a horse marathon that runs 100 miles over mountains and hills (not like a regular human marathon on the flat roads). It has been done in 10 hours, which is 10mph on average over such rough terrain. A regular marathon runner does 10mph on flat roads. There is even a 36 mile flat run that's done without any rest and probably hits average speeds much higher than 10mph. The race is done in July in Auburn CA, so it's probably pretty hot.

So without an actual competition to test if the human can outrun the horse in a 26 mile marathon, even on a hot day, I would be hesitant to believe it, knowing how far horses can go. Maybe it's a job for the MythBusters.

Back to the tools thing; The use of tools is a sign of intelligence. Using them gives a huge advantage over strength. Using them means you have used your more intelligent brain to accomplish something you couldn't otherwise do (such as killing a bear with a stick). If a tool was used at all by an animal, it is considered to have used its intelligence. That's precisely why we have flourished. There's no doubt that primitive humans were more fit than today. It's just compared to other animals, we were pretty pathetic and tools helped us excel.

[ascanius]

I did read it. Horses can sweat btw, humans are not the only ones. The article simply states a human could outrun a horse in a 26.2 mile marathon but it does not say if they tested it, nor does it say if the horse is attempting to sprint the entire way or take it at a pace.

For example, there is the Tevis Cup, (this link is the best description I can find) which is basically a horse marathon that runs 100 miles over mountains and hills (not like a regular human marathon on the flat roads). It has been done in 10 hours, which is 10mph on average over such rough terrain. A regular marathon runner does 10mph on flat roads. There is even a 36 mile flat run that's done without any rest and probably hits average speeds much higher than 10mph. The race is done in July in Auburn CA, so it's probably pretty hot.

So without an actual competition to test if the human can outrun the horse in a 26 mile marathon, even on a hot day, I would be hesitant to believe it, knowing how far horses can go. Maybe it's a job for the MythBusters.

Back to the tools thing; The use of tools is a sign of intelligence. Using them gives a huge advantage over strength. Using them means you have used your more intelligent brain to accomplish something you couldn't otherwise do (such as killing a bear with a stick). If a tool was used at all by an animal, it is considered to have used its intelligence. That's precisely why we have flourished. There's no doubt that primitive humans were more fit than today. It's just compared to other animals, we were pretty pathetic and tools helped us excel.

I'm not trying to downplay the importance of intelligence. Smarts have allowed us progress beyond running down prey, but it doesn't negate the fact that our technological advances are far more recent developments than our bodies.

The point still stands that we are very capable physical animals. We can't wrestle bears or speed past a cheeah, but we can endure where most, if any, animals can't.

The bear/shark encounters was just to point out that neither our intelligence/technology or bodies would have been able to survive alone. It was an amalgamation of both. We are not strong, but we certainly are not lapdogs.

[pezcore]

I have a large "Tool"

Heh Heh.

[Hypnos]

You are a tool Pez

[Antilikos]

Man eats box of Hoho's in a single sitting.

[Goodgnome]

Man eats box of Hoho's in a single sitting.

Lies. I've just been Rickrolled :|

[Ander]

-Ander

[Ander]

-Ander

[Erico]

-Ander

LOLZ!