i understand how species can evolve over time to survive, but why did today's humans evolve the way they did

Question

we are not more able to survive than our ancestors the way we are now, if anything we are weaker than our ancestors, if our ancestors were apes/chimpanzees/monkeys/gorillas, whatever, you get my point.

interesting answer B dorian

oscar... you don't understand what i'm saying as you TRY to insult me... i'm talking about physical traits ONLY, not intelligence, you are showing your intelligence level in your vain attempts at insults.

oscar.... ONE LAST POST ... i... am... not.... talking.... about.... physcial..... traits....., i'm not talking about fighting you either, does it make you feel better to TRY to insult others...you're a sad case.

Answer 1

We were not the "strongest" apes in the forrest, we got three things going for us.

1. We can talk, no other great ape vocalizes as well as we do.

2. We can be abstract in our thinking, Other apes can become upset when a tribe-member dies, Neanderthals and H. Sapiens were the only ones who appear to have ritualized death, this lead to other rituals , for eating and birth and eventually education and other things which formed the basis of more advanced tribes of humans.

3. We are CREATIVE - we invent things at a staggering pace, compared to other apes, Neanderthals for instance created tools but over 200,000 years those tools barely changed, whereas human tools changed nearly every few decades or centuries. Look at any invention we have and barring the invention of fire, we've more or less found a way to improve everything else around us.

This has changed US as a consequence. We have changed genetically as a result.

1. We are about a 1.5 feet taller than our ancient cousins (from about 5000 years ago) on average.
2. We are probably about 50% "smarter" on average than we were 5000 years ago. (the upper 5 or 20% haven't probably gone up too much in IQ but the average for the middle 60% has definitely gone up considerably, largely due to the invention of books and mass-literacy and mass education.
3. We are healthier, many people died in infancy or very young due to disease , war or famine, these things occur with rarity today.
4. We are living longer, people were married by 14, with kids by 20 and gracefully into middle age by 28 and most likely dead by 42. Today couples routinely get married at 32 have kids at 40 are productive into at least their 50's and 60's and are dead by 85.

5. We do have a small problem however, in that genetic diseases or inheirited conditions which would have killed many no-longer do, and so they may have children, who pass on a trait which would not have been passed otherwise.

However since we are also having children later in life, this effect is somewhat dampened, you have to live alot longer than you did to be having kids, so people might have started having kids as soon as "the equipment was working", today it's preferable that you have a "decent job", are "reasonably intelligent" or "good looking", things are alot more planned.

Answer 2

~No, actually, I don't get your point. I suspect that modern man may have some difficulty in surviving during the last ice age without modern man's technology. By the same token, could Java Man cross Times Square during rush hour without getting flattened like a toad?

Golly gee, could evolution of the human brain be the cause of Man's success? Apparently not. You give more credence to a mat of heavy body hair and the ability to wield a club or the leg bone of a mastadon than you do to communal living, education, science, labor saving devices, language and such foolishness. Ah, not all man has evolved at the same pace after all.

edit to fisherman: thank you for proving the point. With the evolution of the brain and the mind, the reliance on the physical becomes increasingly moot. There was no attempt to insult intended. I was simply stating obvious and self-evident facts. The very inanity of the question was more insulting to you than any response I could have made. Or perhaps you simply fail to understand the true nature and significance of evolutionary advance. But I will pit my meager physical stature, coupled with a 7mm rifle, against any cave man or gorilla you can muster.

Answer 3

I think our evolution went into another gear maybe a million years ago. We started using warfare to expand territory. It is just speculation based on current behavior. That greatly expanded technology and weaponry. We are adapted to rapid reproduction and have a culture that uses complex tactics to attack other competitors. That neatly explains why we alone survive and also helps explain our apparent rapid rise. Warfare has the potential to drive evolution much faster than starvation. We may be physically weaker in some respects but no animal or group of animals would want to meet a large group of modern humans armed with the latest technology.

Answer 4

Because our technology is making life easier. Preventing the weak from dying before breeding. So we are no longer evolving in a survival of the fittest method.

Genetic diseases are being treated long enough to have children, they carry it and mate with another who's got genetic issues. It'll all add up eventually.

We will either learn how to prevent it through selective breeding, learn how to alter genetics, or die off.

Answer 5

If you understand how species evolve, change in allele frequencies in a population over time, then you understand how we did it. In response to environmental change; include culture and society in the environmental column.

Answer 6

We evolved the way we did so enough of us could learn to type so that I would be the one to find your question and tell you this answer.