the running animal

[Marc Verha]

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/099/science/The_running_ani-
mal+.shtml

Dear Gareth Cook,

I'm sorry to say, but I couldn't believe my eyes when I read
your article. Are there still scientists in the 21th century
who believe the savanna fantasies? Let's have a look at the
first sentences of your article.

- "The marathon likely began not in Greece, but on the vast
savannas of Africa some 2 million years ago. Under a beating
equatorial sun, the runners would have plunged through the
grass, aiming toward a column of circling buzzards many
miles in the distance."

Many miles? Say only 5 km at even 25 km/hr, they would have
reached the carcass in 12 minutes: 12 minutes after the
circling buzzards, IOW, they would have lost a lot of water &
sodium & energy for nothing... And when he arrived at the
carcass, alone (or did he have to wait for the slowest
runner?) & exhausted, he wouldn't even have been capable of
chasing away 1 vulture... He would have been a good prey for
the carnivores that after they had picked the bones clear had
waited a quarter of an hour for the first runner to arrive...

- "Beneath the buzzards lay a fresh kill. And the runners -
our distant ancestors - would have been racing the clock for
survival: If they were fast, they would find food for their
families; but if they were slow, they would find only bones,
picked clean by other scavengers."

Yes. Yes.

- "''Humans arose as pirates of the savanna,'' said Dennis
Bramble, a professor of biology at the University of Utah.
''What humans are really good at is running long
distances, where they have a goal in mind. It allows you
to shut out the discomfort and the pain, and concentrate
on the prize.''"

Humans are nothing compared to real long-distance runners,
eg, hyena dogs. Even less compared to short-distance runners,
eg, cheetahs.

-"In the past, paleontologists have noted the development of
large brains, capable of great thoughts, and deft hands,
capable of making tools, as crucial innovations that lead to
the triumph of Homo sapiens."

You don't need large brains for running to carcasses in the
field. You don't need deft hands to do that: they had to
run with sharp stones in their hands to make the carcass
clean! Etc. Etc.

I'm very sorry to say, but this is sheer nonsense.

Marc Verhaegen
http://allserv.rug.ac.be/~mvaneech/Verhaegen.html

http://members.telocity.com/~hydra9/marcaat.html

[Firstjois]

You'd probably be better off sending this to Garth Brooks.

Jois

"Marc Verhaegen" <marc.verhaegen@village.uunet.be> wrote in
message news:3ccaa4d3$0$6969$ba620e4c@news.skynet.be...
: http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/099/science/The_running_a-
: nimal+.shtml
:
: Dear Gareth Cook,
:
: I'm sorry to say, but I couldn't believe my eyes when I
: read your
article.
: Are there still scientists in the 21th century who believe
: the savanna fantasies? Let's have a look at the first
: sentences of your article.
:
: - "The marathon likely began not in Greece, but on the vast
: savannas of Africa some 2 million years ago. Under a
: beating equatorial sun, the
runners
: would have plunged through the grass, aiming toward a column
: of circling buzzards many miles in the distance."
:
: Many miles? Say only 5 km at even 25 km/hr, they would have
: reached the carcass in 12 minutes: 12 minutes after the
: circling buzzards, IOW, they would have lost a lot of water
: & sodium & energy for nothing... And when
he
: arrived at the carcass, alone (or did he have to wait for
: the slowest runner?) & exhausted, he wouldn't even have been
: capable of chasing away
1
: vulture... He would have been a good prey for the carnivores
: that after
they
: had picked the bones clear had waited a quarter of an hour
: for the first runner to arrive...
:
: - "Beneath the buzzards lay a fresh kill. And the runners -
: our distant ancestors - would have been racing the clock
: for survival: If they were fast, they would find food for
: their families; but if they were slow,
they
: would find only bones, picked clean by other scavengers."
:
: Yes. Yes.
:
: - "''Humans arose as pirates of the savanna,'' said Dennis
: Bramble, a professor of biology at the University of Utah.
: ''What humans are really good at is running long
: distances, where they have a goal in mind. It
allows
: you to shut out the discomfort and the pain, and concentrate
: on the prize.''"
:
: Humans are nothing compared to real long-distance runners,
: eg, hyena
dogs.
: Even less compared to short-distance runners, eg, cheetahs.
:
: -"In the past, paleontologists have noted the development
: of large
brains,
: capable of great thoughts, and deft hands, capable of making
: tools, as crucial innovations that lead to the triumph of
: Homo sapiens."
:
: You don't need large brains for running to carcasses in the
: field. You
don't
: need deft hands to do that: they had to run with sharp
: stones in their
hands
: to make the carcass clean! Etc. Etc.
:
: I'm very sorry to say, but this is sheer nonsense.
:
: Marc Verhaegen
: http://allserv.rug.ac.be/~mvaneech/Verhaegen.html
:
: http://members.telocity.com/~hydra9/marcaat.html
:
:
:
:

[Bob Keeter]

in article
z3yy8.214346$%l3.17427981@bin8.nnrp.aus1.giganews.com,
firstjois at firstjoisyikes@hotmail.com wrote on 4/27/02 8:53
AM:

> You'd probably be better off sending this to Garth Brooks.
>
> Jois
>

Methinks that Mr. Brooks owns a large cattle ranch, Montana or
Oklahoma, I forget which. If so, somewhere out behind the
barn, he certainly has a plu-perfect place to put it too! 8-))

Regards bk

>
> "Marc Verhaegen" <marc.verhaegen@village.uunet.be> wrote in
> message news:3ccaa4d3$0$6969$ba620e4c@news.skynet.be...
> : http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/099/science/The_running-
> : _animal+.shtml
> :
> : Dear Gareth Cook,
> :
> : I'm sorry to say, but I couldn't believe my eyes when I
> : read your
> article.
> : Are there still scientists in the 21th century who believe
> : the savanna fantasies? Let's have a look at the first
> : sentences of your article.
> :
> : - "The marathon likely began not in Greece, but on the
> : vast savannas of Africa some 2 million years ago. Under
> : a beating equatorial sun, the
> runners
> : would have plunged through the grass, aiming toward a
> : column of circling buzzards many miles in the distance."
> :
> : Many miles? Say only 5 km at even 25 km/hr, they would
> : have reached the carcass in 12 minutes: 12 minutes after
> : the circling buzzards, IOW, they would have lost a lot of
> : water & sodium & energy for nothing... And when
> he
> : arrived at the carcass, alone (or did he have to wait for
> : the slowest runner?) & exhausted, he wouldn't even have
> : been capable of chasing away
> 1
> : vulture... He would have been a good prey for the
> : carnivores that after
> they
> : had picked the bones clear had waited a quarter of an hour
> : for the first runner to arrive...
> :
> : - "Beneath the buzzards lay a fresh kill. And the runners
> : - our distant ancestors - would have been racing the
> : clock for survival: If they were fast, they would find
> : food for their families; but if they were slow,
> they
> : would find only bones, picked clean by other scavengers."
> :
> : Yes. Yes.
> :
> : - "''Humans arose as pirates of the savanna,'' said Dennis
> : Bramble, a professor of biology at the University of
> : Utah. ''What humans are really good at is running long
> : distances, where they have a goal in mind. It
> allows
> : you to shut out the discomfort and the pain, and
> : concentrate on the prize.''"
> :
> : Humans are nothing compared to real long-distance runners,
> : eg, hyena
> dogs.
> : Even less compared to short-distance runners, eg,
> : cheetahs.
> :
> : -"In the past, paleontologists have noted the development
> : of large
> brains,
> : capable of great thoughts, and deft hands, capable of
> : making tools, as crucial innovations that lead to the
> : triumph of Homo sapiens."
> :
> : You don't need large brains for running to carcasses in
> : the field. You
> don't
> : need deft hands to do that: they had to run with sharp
> : stones in their
> hands
> : to make the carcass clean! Etc. Etc.
> :
> : I'm very sorry to say, but this is sheer nonsense.
> :
> : Marc Verhaegen
> : http://allserv.rug.ac.be/~mvaneech/Verhaegen.html
> :
> : http://members.telocity.com/~hydra9/marcaat.html
> :
> :
> :
> :

[Firstjois]

"Bob Keeter" <rkeeter@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:B8F0A13F.C758%rkeeter@earthlink.net...
: in article
: z3yy8.214346$%l3.17427981@bin8.nnrp.aus1.giganews.com,
firstjois
: at firstjoisyikes@hotmail.com wrote on 4/27/02 8:53 AM:
:
: > You'd probably be better off sending this to Garth Brooks.
: >
: > Jois
: >
:
: Methinks that Mr. Brooks owns a large cattle ranch, Montana
: or Oklahoma,
I
: forget which. If so, somewhere out behind the barn, he
: certainly has a plu-perfect place to put it too! 8-))
:
: Regards bk
:
Of course, if you haven't gotten your spring garden
started . . ..

Regards, Jois

[Bob Keeter]

in article
yTIy8.121981$ro5.10657350@bin6.nnrp.aus1.giganews.com,
firstjois at firstjoisyikes@hotmail.com wrote on 4/27/02 9:11
PM:

>
> "Bob Keeter" <rkeeter@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:B8F0A13F.C758%rkeeter@earthlink.net...
> : in article
> : z3yy8.214346$%l3.17427981@bin8.nnrp.aus1.giganews.com,
> firstjois
> : at firstjoisyikes@hotmail.com wrote on 4/27/02 8:53 AM:
> :
> : > You'd probably be better off sending this to Garth
> : > Brooks.
> : >
> : > Jois
> : >
> :
> : Methinks that Mr. Brooks owns a large cattle ranch,
> : Montana or Oklahoma,
> I
> : forget which. If so, somewhere out behind the barn, he
> : certainly has a plu-perfect place to put it too! 8-))
> :
> : Regards bk
> :
> Of course, if you haven't gotten your spring garden
> started . . ..
>
> Regards, Jois
>
>

Late spring up here you know! ;-)

bk