Why is it that humans are so weak? We don't have fangs. We don't have claws. We aren't strong compared to animals. We have the brains and the thumbs. But what good are those in a fight for your life?
Why are humans so weak compared to animals?
If a human was to find himself in a fight with a wild animal/predator (i.e. bear, wolf, couger, etc...) is there anyway he could win with his natural resources? (no weapons. just fists/teeth/feet/knees/etc...)
2006-11-25 13:35:07 · 10 answers · asked by supermanpj4444 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
I think you're thinking about this whole thing in the wrong way.
You dismiss brains, where that's our greatest strength. Why say "no weapons" when you suppose a fight, when we DO have weapons?
We have guile, and we can have weapons -- we don't taste all that great, and being meat-eaters, we aren't prey for those who eat herbivores (bear, wolves, cougars, etc. -- they eat easier prey).
You seem to assume that predators attack every creature they come across, which isn't true -- they attack plant-eaters, that they have a chance of consuming -- they don't waste their energy on "let's kill anything" but choose what to attack.
We aren't in constant fights for our lives from predators. We ARE predators.
And we have weapons, and brains -- which we often used to take food from other predators.
And now, we seldom, if ever, meet anything that wants to eat us.
There's something wrong about how you're thinking of this issue.
2006-11-25 13:59:48 · answer #1 · answered by tehabwa 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Humans are so weak compared to animals because of their advanced intellect. By being smart, humans can make tools, build homes and work together as a community.
If you can build a spear or bow and arrow, why do you need claws, teeth or strength? If you can make projectiles and work together to take down prey much larger than yourself, why do you need to run fast or brute strength? Over the years, natural selection has preferred humans with bigger brains and better intellect over mere strength or physical prowess. Brains were the next evolutionary step. Where the rest of the world was getting bigger and stronger, man was getting smarter and weaker. But it's that intellect that has made humans the dominant animal on the earth, and possibly beyond.
Why ask about a human fighting a predator without a weapon? It's our very ability to make and use weapons that makes among the most lethal creatures on earth. How many bears, cougars or wolves can kill an animal from a mile away?
2006-11-25 14:15:48 · answer #2 · answered by Spaghetti Cat 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pound for pound we are no match with vast majority of the wild animals.
From day one, human and primate are always strategize to win by numbers. We will not win bare hands alone with other solitary predators. Not a chance! Similar to ask a single anchovie to fight a shark. That is not fair.
We however excel with brain power, and knowledge in tools and power of groups. So far, we have not meet a match on Earth yet.
Another example of this is athe ants and bee, if you have to force a bee or a ant to fight for it's own survival without the colony. It can not. These animals have evolved successful in a group models. They physicological design is optimized in the social group environment. And they can only survive that way.
This is a classical example of brawn meets brain. In the human case, it is proven that brain and group power beat the brawn.
2006-11-25 14:59:47 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
We have thumbs. We can pick up a stick and swing it and block with it. We can pick up a rock and throw it. Why invest energy in claws and fangs? With intelligence, you can use materials, weapons, the terrain, and numbers coordinated by communication.
On open terrain, with no loose objects around, a lone human would have a very difficult time in a fight. With no means of trickery, it would come down to mobility and hitting a vulnerable site quickly.
2006-11-25 13:59:06 · answer #4 · answered by novangelis 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's a balancing act. We are weak b/c we posses a mental power animal don't. We can use our mental ability to survive where as animals must use instinct and other body modifications to survive. In nature there are trade offs... brains or brawn....
2006-11-25 13:46:02 · answer #5 · answered by Sparkle 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In spite of our brain,natural selection (which is the key of evolution) pick up traits which are the most useful in life,by means of surviving and reproduction.we humans,haven't been changed for adapting with nature,we changed our environment during history,so we stopped(or slowed down)our evolution.well the last answer is a question:would you marry with a person with horns and have children like it?!!
2006-11-25 19:54:10 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it's because we evolved from monkeys!!! Anyways, in a fight against a wild animal, a human could maybe win because we have brains, and so you could punch the animal's weakest point, and knock him out.
2006-11-25 13:38:30 · answer #7 · answered by S. Sharma 1 · 0⤊ 4⤋
On the bright side, we excel in the endurance of running in hot weather since we have little body hair.
2015-08-23 18:01:12 · answer #8 · answered by Mohamed Hussein 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
how often do you find yourself in hand-to-hand combat with a grizzly bear?
maybe that is the reason.
2006-11-25 13:42:38 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, I think if you eat your shreddies , you'll get those muscles and be so strong you'll wanna fight your way out of a wet paper bag.
2006-11-25 13:52:30 · answer #10 · answered by Zoey 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋