This dog pack Homo Erectus became weak and brutal? Keep running properly
Posted by: adonis49 on: May 1, 2011
How the dog pack Homo Erectus became weak and brutal? Keep running properly
I listened to the talk of Christopher McDougall on TEDx at a regular meeting in Awkar (Lebanon).
McDougall claims that Homo Erectus survived for 2 million years without any weapons, in an environment of carnivorous animals far more equipped genetically to chasing and killing prays.
Mankind is at a disfavor in all aspects of sensory capabilities, speed, and killing means than most animals. So how did this specie managed to survive for so many years?
Christopher McDougall claims that Homo Erectus went hunting, all of them, as a tribe, men, adults, women, children, and even babies.
One factor that Homo Erectus outdid the performance of other animals is that he could cool-off while running, and thus, as other animals needed to stop to refresh, our dog pack of homos kept running and wearing out his chase to a stop, encircled, and then killed at leisure.
I am wondering: How the homo erectus killed the pray?
They must have used some kinds of weapons like a heavy stick or stones.
How they managed to skin the pray? They must have used some kinds of knives.
Do you believe ancient homo erectus ate the meat with the fur? Did they have more performing teeth mechanism or different finger nail shapes? Or these lucubration are beside the topic?
(I have seen documentaries of African hunters chasing antelopes for 8 straight hours and forcing the victim to kneel down and say: “Okay, I outran you, I did my best to avoid you and blend in the environment. You win. Please, kill me quickly.”
They were three Africans specialized in these long chases; they were naked and carried spears; most probably a few of them carried a sort of knife.
The documentary didn’t show what portion of the antelope they carried back to the community: The antelope must be far heavier than the three hunters combined. The documentary failed to mention how the hunters returned, walking or running, and how long the return trip lasted. And how they carried the meat…
Are these pieces of intelligence beside the subject matter?
It is amazing the kinds of skills these hunters must have acquired to achieving this feat. Does anyone believe that if he is equipped with modern technologies like GPS locators, compasses, and…he can find his way back after 8 hours of running in the jungle?
McDougall said that there is a tribe in Mexico that survived the Spanish Conquistadors’ holocaust by keeping on the run as a tribe since the year 1600.
his tribe emulated the hunting strategy of the Homo Erectus to survive all these years. I bet this tribe learned to fabricate weapons so that they don’t have to run 8 hours every-time they need to feed.
I don’t know from where McDougal gathered his statistics that the members of this tribes never experienced feet, leg, or back injuries from running. Is that too beside the point?
A regular attendee, William, has been experimenting with McDougall suggestions; not the hunting part, but the running methods.
William hand-made his flat thin sandals (as the one used by the Mexican tribe) and has been running with his dog Misha. William said that he suffered from his knees before wearing the special sandals. To double check that the former sneakers were the culprit, he wore his regular running shoes and the pains in his knees returned. That is not all.
Even his sandals eventually hurt his knees and back for his 10 km run. Thus, William experimented with the running posture and discovered that an erect posture, the groin forward, relying on the buttocks muscles, and managed to eliminate the leg and back pains.
William calls this posture “Fucking the dog posture”. Obviously, this image is misleading, since you cannot fuck anything in this posture, not even an inflated man-made doll, but the male attendees nodded their head in agreement, simply because it is the “virtual posture” they like to dream of.
Experiment in physics have demonstrated that bare feet have better coefficient of friction than any manufactured shoes, running or climbing shoes. The bare foot opposes better resistance to slippery roads. Actually, African hunters go bare feet; maybe a few of them fabricate appropriate footwear from their hunting experience.
Maybe mankind evolved to run and run.
It is not organizing marathons or participating in marathons that will reverse the sedentary life-style of mankind. When have you decided to go to work on foot?
Can cycling be another alternative to running? Are we evolving into Homo Cyclist?
Instead of relying on buttock muscles, what other muscles we might rely on?
Note 1: Christopher McDougall said that, two decades ago, women were discouraged from running Marathons by disseminating the false information that the uterus will fall off and women will no longer be able to bear babies. In a few marathons, you see women breast feeding while running!
Note 2: I suggest to design shoes by elevating the insole and having the outside sole thicker than the ball of the shoe so that the ball of the foot does not hit the ground first. That is my trademark design.
Adonis Diaries 
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