Why Did We Evolve To Walk *So* Upright?

Question

We've all seen the pictures - crawling monkey to hunched ape, to slouched neanderthal, to upright man.


I've been trying to walk with better posture for a couple of days, and it's actually quite uncomfortable.

If you're just a little bit slumped, it feels a bit easier on the body, and you have a lower centre of gravity - better for scrambling around quickly and for stability.

So where's the evolutionary advantage in standing completely upright?

Answer 1

When you stand upright you can see further. Better to spot predators, better to spot prey! It also enables very efficient movement over long distances; very few animals can cover as much ground as us humans. Horses, for example, cannot go as far, day in, day out, as humans, even though they are faster over short distances. Old-time armies were limited to the speed of their horses, as the men could slowly get ahead over days of marching. It leaves one's hands free, too, so we could evolve into tool-using creatures, and carry things without using our mouths. It also means that we can wade in water, which is useful for crossing streams, and also for fishing. It's adaptable , too. We can not only walk, but also climb up things, trees, mountains, rope ladders.

You are wrong about posture. A slumped posture reduces lung capacity and puts a strain on the body in other ways. When you walk try imagining that you are suspended by the top of your head, so your body dangles perfectly upright. You'll find that it makes walking easier, and standing still, too (ask a policeman, or a soldier on sentry-duty). Slumping is often a psychological response to the stress of city life; you don't wish to make eye-contact, so you look down, and the rest of the body follows. If you've been used to slumping and slouching your muscles will be used to that, so it will take more than "a couple of days" before you feel comfortable with it. Making a conscious effort to stand upright can improve your attitude to life, quite literally. As the song says "walk tall, stand straight and look the world right in the eye". Like so many things it's trite, but true!

Answer 2

The upright position is a survival trait. Protohumans were much smaller and weaker than local predators. Our advantage was our brain. We didn't evolve with specialized equipment like fangs, claws, great speed or muscle. Upright means our hands could develop into tools for fine manipulation and for the construcion and use of the other tools to compete against fangs and claws and such. The more upright, perhaps the better visibility over distance, in some cases.

Regarding posture, upright lets your innards set and work properly. The couple of days you practiced better posture would not make up for many years of being slouched. There is a point where the upright you describe coule be extreme, and your slouch may not be all that bad. The stiff, extreme posture of military "attention," is as much for show as anything. A soldier expecting an attack will not be standing in that position.

Your concern about center of gravity and scrambling may be a bit predjudicial. Boxers slouch and hide behind gloves, but they have to mostly defend against punches to the face. Watch where other martial artists gain their center of gravity. Bent legs with feet placed for rapid movement in any direction.

Answer 3

No one stands completely upright. If you look at a skeleton, it is apparent that the spine is curved. Also, there is no actual need for a lower center of gravity because we have naturally evolved arms and legs, which each serve a separate purpose. The actual evolutionary advantage probably reaches back to the times where man made the jump from scavenger to hunter-gatherer. An upright body is needed for hunting, whereas, a bent-over frame is more logical (speaking in evolutionary terms, more primitive) for a scavenger.

Answer 4

Y'know, I 've been wondering this too. Walking as we do on two legs with a vertical spine (rather than horizontal as birds and dinosaurs do/did) is a VERY inefficent way to walk. While it may cost less energy than the crouching walk apes use, it is much less efficient than the way a bird or a four-footed animal walks. Not only that but the balance is difficult to master, that is a great deal of the reason why until infants take about a year to even take their first step when other animals are walking within their first few days. Perhaps it was simply the best way to resolve a problem with no good solutions.

Answer 5

great question. about 8 million years ago all of Africa was covered with dense rain forests so all of our primate ancestors spent 99% of their time in trees. When what is now called India collided with Asia it shot up the Himalayas which cut off moisture to Africa. Now much of the rain forests were gone and our tree swinging ancestors had to spend much more time on the ground. The ones that stood up much of the time survived better. They could see over the tops of the grasses. Over time those that stood passed those genes on. Evolution isn't perfect though, it can only work with what it has. That's why some of the most common ailments for humans today are bad backs, knees hips and other joints associated with upright walking. That's the short answer, but hope it helps.

Answer 6

Q: all of us comprehend that maximum animals that run on all fours are swifter. Why will we walk upright each and every of the time? A: strolling upright is an awesome benefit even as it is composed of searching enforcing to predators, and seeing those predators beforehand they see you. Q:Why did we evolve the flexibility to make certain colour? To sense love? To relish song, poetry? A: the flexibility to make certain colour is fairly accessible to figure poionous insect or flowers once you haven't got an instinctual avoidance of those inedibles. we are not the in ordinary words animals that see colour, both. Love is probably a genetic misfiring depending round genetic predisposition in route of particular personalities, albeit a eye-catching misfire. song appeals to element of the mind, and some different animals reply properly to rythmic sounds to boot, like whales and dolphins. Poetry is outfitted from language, it quite is really a lot the theory for any precis wondering that an excellent wise organism may opt to do, so evidently it appeals to us. Q: Can a experience of justice be some thing which could be needed for survival? A: honestly. A species as wise as people that are able to deception (frequently do to language) must have some variety of disciplinary measures to make certain the gang gained't continuously be less than danger from a deviant member. different animals instinctually behave in the way they are meant to, or they are exiled from the gang or perhaps killed. Q: What about an ethical experience? will we choose that to live on? Or sympathy and empathy? That makes us weaker, not more beneficial.Friendship. How does that relate to evolution? A: i'd ought to assert that a "consience" is a construct of society, not a genetic inheritance. we choose it to live on insofar as we opt to artwork together and agree on particular norms. Sympathy, empathy and friendship are all key to reliable communities, it quite is what has propelled people to the real of the nutrition chain. Q: what number different animals may actual danger their very own existence to save one among their very own? A: If i am going to imagine of only one, will that placed the question to relax? An octopus really a lot sacrifices her existence after guarding her brood. She is so weakened from starvation, that predators at modern-day attack and kill her. You end: feels like those traits had to be extra or a lot less placed into us by using some thing or someone. My Rebuttal: feels like all those traits are mandatory for survival. Evolution is a beautfiul and dazzling procedure. you should actual seem into it as a replace of creating uninformed statements.

Answer 7

Our evolution of walking upright is not yet complete. Descent with modifaction takes thousands of years to complete. Why do you think we need chiropractors? I would suspect that in another thousand years that chiropractors will be out of work.

Another example is the appendix. The appendix is a vestigal organ that was once prominent in digestion of the first homo sapiens. It will be a matter of time before the appendix no longer exists in the human body.

The reason we walk up right is because of its advantage. Try chasing down a meal on all fours compared to running on two legs. Mechanically, its much more efficient that we are a vertical species.

Answer 8

The advantage is that is requires less energy to walk upright than slumped over. And it was uncomfortable for you to walk with better posture because your body has already adjusted to walking without it. You were using muscles in your back that were not used to being used.

Answer 9

When the various apes couldn't reach the fruit on overhanging branches, they stood up. Thus an evolutionary advantage.
Also, consider the giraffe. On the plains of Africa, their long necks allowed them to reach food higher up, better to compete with other animals.
Also, football players, standing "upright" can catch (or block) more passes. Once again, selective evolution.
And again, girls like tall males. (an evolutionary advantage)
So, stand tall, as your Dad suggests. It also save wear and tear on your knuckles and keeps fingernails cleaner.

Answer 10

We evolved to an upright position to free our hands to better defend ourselves and more easily gather food.