Food for Thought Dietary change was a driving force in human evolution

Scientific American ^ | December 2002 | William R. Leonard

[keithtoo]

Square Peg? (Evolution)

Round Hole? (Reality)

Solution? Bigger Hammer!!! (Creative 'Science')

[SauronOfMordor]

I thought it was cooperation in the hunt and the eating of meat that contributed to the growth in brain size. Before you can fight, you need to eat. Social organization follows and you need socialization to wage war.

It's all interrelated. A predator pack needs a large territory, and needs to defend that territory against competitors. Those who are best at utilizing their territory, and in defending it and expanding it, will pass on their genes. Those who are ineffective in defending their territory from encroachment will die out. Somehow, I think there's some applicability here with regards to our current immigration policy...

[ECM]

Here, here!

[stanz]

I think there's some applicability here with regards to our current immigration policy

Or lack of therein..... :)

[txhurl]

It was the first murder, the first human with a temper, the first human who decided to rob and rape

Like when we were cast out of eden and childbirth would henceforth be painful due to larger crania?

There are so many allusions to evolution in the Adam/Eve scenario.... but pondering them sure starts a lot of fights around here.

When I consider Desmond Morris' The Naked Ape within the context of Genesis, it sure explains a lot. I think he stretches a bit at times, but he's spot on when he restricts himself to zoological interpretation of human evolution.

[RightWhale]

mankinds need to make beer.

Then it was noticed that almost the same process made bread. So mankind built cities to provide infrastructure for beer and bread-making. That's about as far as we have gotten so far.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Restorer]

The whole theory of evolution created by differential reproductive success has gone way out the window in modern societies.

In general, the most successful members of our society from an economic and status standpoint have the fewest children (NBA players excepted.

The least successful members have the most children.

In general, Americans today have surviving children in exactly the number they choose to. Thus the evolutionary traits being selected for are either desire for children or being too stupid to use birth control. Neither has any relationship to traditional theories of evolution.

[APBaer]

And Twinkies will power our trek over the bridge to the 22nd Century.

[blam]

"Well, then why is everyone worried about what we eat now? Our bodies should just evolve to better handle the Big Macs, large fries and giant chocolate shakes."

"The problem is that medical science is preventing that step in human evolution. If they keep on doing heart bypass operations to save people, then the genetic superiority of those who can survive "Super Sizing" their fast food meals cannot be exploited. However, if Hitlery takes over the country's medical system and drives it into the ground, people will no longer be able to survive their heart attacks."

Evolution continues as always...and may have even acellerated(sp).

My theory:
If, as has been claimed, that our bodies are now contaminated with drugs, alcohol, nicotine, fats and etc., the sperm and eggs of future humans that cannot cope with these 'pollutants' very simply do not conceive. Females have many unknown abortions through-out their lives and all the 'problems' of modern society are comprehended in this process. Only those that can tolerate present day conditions even make it to being conceived. The high cholestoral and heart attacks are just a minor player in this scenario.

[Junior]

Give us a few hundred generations of eating those foods, and we just might.

[glorgau]

they are largely the result of natural selection acting to maximize dietary quality and foraging efficiency. Changes in food availability over time, it seems, strongly influenced our hominid ancestors. Thus, in an evolutionary sense, we are very much what we ate.

Thus arose the French... :-)

[capitan_refugio]

That's certainly one way to look at it! ;^)

[capitan_refugio]

Are you saying that some Gray had a Neanderthal in a haystack?

[PatrickHenry]

Placemarker.

[Scully]

Another crevo thread.

Patrick, say it with some feeling, like:

Wow! Another crevo-thread!!!

Hehe

[PatrickHenry]

Wow! Another crevo-thread!!!

I've seen more enthusiasm at a Walter Mondale victory party. I guess some threads just don't catch fire. Whatcha gonna do?

[SunkenCiv]

Study explores plausibility of bulbs and tubers in the diet of early human ancestors
PhysOrg | Friday, July 25, 2008 | UC Santa Cruz
Posted on 07/25/2008 8:15:37 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2051557/posts

[SunkenCiv]

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