I have always wondered this question!
2006-06-20 05:32:37 · 37 answers · asked by chacha417 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
I suppose what you are asking is if humans were once monkeys to which the answer is emphatically NO. Monkeys don't become anything but monkeys. Humans don't devolve into monkeys. The only reason to believe otherwise is to deny humans an eternal soul and the responsibilty to live with the understanding that we have a reason for being beyond eating, sleeping and procreating.
2006-06-20 05:42:49 · answer #1 · answered by mikey 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
The real answer is this. Roughly 5.4 million years ago, chimps and humans shared a common ancestor. That ancestor was neither a chimp nor a human, but similar to both in many ways. Chimps are not monkeys, by the way. Monkeys are smaller and have tails. Monkeys and the common ancestor of chimps and humans, shared a common ancestor roughly 35 million years ago.
Think of chimps as a 1st cousin. And consider monkeys as much more distance cousins. Allot happened between 35 million years ago and 5.4 million years ago.
So NO, we were not once monkeys. Rather monkeys, chimps and humans share a common ancestor. While you're thinking about this concept, consider that dogs, cats, and humans also share a common ancestor. A common ancestor for all mammals existed some 200 million years ago.
2006-06-20 07:59:58 · answer #2 · answered by TechnoRat60 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, we were (and are still) apes. Apes & monkeys are similar and related, but are not the same thing. Like tigers & bobcats are obviously similar, but not the same thing. Apes & monkeys both evolved from a common ancestor that was neither an ape nor a monkey, but kind of like a lemur. So, we were never monkeys, but we were lemurs.
2006-06-20 05:39:38 · answer #3 · answered by Bartmooby 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We Were Monkeys
2016-11-12 08:59:28 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, I don't think we were monkeys. Over the millions of years we have developed, at first we looked like monkey's but know we look like humans.
2006-06-20 05:36:30 · answer #5 · answered by POWER 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We, as in you and I, have a common ancestor with primates. We are not monkeys and they are not humans. Long ago, our paths diverged very, very slowly, until we became 2 different species. We have a common ancestor with them, that is all. It is not like anyone is saying your grandfather was literally one of today's monkeys, that is completely ridiculous. Pseudo-believers and fundamentalists love to use quotes like "my grandfather's not a monkey" as an anti-evolutionary promotional tool... but Darwin was not saying that at all.
2006-06-20 05:41:58 · answer #6 · answered by moore850 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, we do share a huge amount of characteristics with monkeys (opposable thumbs, etc.), but not even Darwin said that we evolved from monkeys.
2006-06-20 05:37:07 · answer #7 · answered by Aleyna 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, if we were once monkeys and now human, then the monkeys now from where ??
2006-06-20 05:40:05 · answer #8 · answered by Drone 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
read Genesis chapter 1. Adam and Eve with thinking, talking people..not monkeys.
2006-06-20 05:37:08 · answer #9 · answered by shannon d 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on whether or not you believe in evolution or God.God created all creatures if you believe in Christianity.Darwin proposes we evolved from organisms to apes and then to man.I believe in God,but I like to hear the beliefs of others and why they feel the way they do.Debate and differing opinions are healthy.
2006-06-20 05:39:51 · answer #10 · answered by zeus2quincy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋