Re: myopia

On Jul 9, 4:09 pm, nmp <addr...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Inez wrote:
On Jul 9, 12:12 pm, nmp <addr...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Arkalen wrote:
On Jul 9, 8:30 pm, nmp <addr...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
nmp wrote:
Arkalen wrote:

On Jul 9, 7:51 pm, Kermit <unrestrained_h...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

[..]

Hairlessness probably dates back to when we started running as a
survival strategy. Running for long distances with sharp sticks
in our hands precedes the modern brain, and therefore modern
amenities like clothing, by a couple of million years.

Kermit
<snip>

Are you sure ? Lots of animals run and stay hairy.

But very few animals are marathon runners. Only wolves, I think.

And they, of course, live in colder climates.

Are horses not marathon runners ?

No, they are certainly not.

Or is it just that we use them that way ?

We don't. Horses can certainly walk long distances, but not at speed.
Remember the Pony Express? They had to change horses every 10 miles or
so.

A human being can *outrun* a horse on long distances. Exactly the way
our ancestors would hunt large game.

Hmm...This sounds a bit off to me, athough perhaps I'm not understanding
what you're saying.

What I'm saying is: run after the beast, chase it, never give it a rest,
it's faster than you but it needs to rest more often, pursue it until
it's completely exhausted. Then spear it and take it home (in parts is
more practical) and have a nice big barbecue where all your family and
friends can stuff themselves until the morning comes. Then go to sleep
and repeat the same trick after a few days.

If it can go 100 miles in 10 hours it certainly doesn't need to rest
more often than I do.

It it's an equid you're after and you want to impress your friends in the
hunting party, after it gives up you could try to humiliate it, have a
few laughs at its expense before you kill it, so you climb on its back
and have it carry you around a few steps.

And a brilliant new idea is born.

According to my wikipedia
search(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endurance_riding), horses in
endurance races can complete a 100 mile race in 10 hours. I've got to
think that this is a better time than humans would make.

I would be interesting to see them do it in places like the Serengeti or
Kalahari, in the heat of day. Humans have the advantage there.

We were still talking about the time before "out of Africa" happened, no?

I don't know how horses would do in that heat. In fairness you would
have to compare to a horse that was native to that kind of
environment, or I don't know what the comparison would mean.


BTW, 100 miles in 10 hours is just 16 km/h average. Human running speed
is about the same, or even slightly faster. Of course it would be an
extremely exhausting chase, only suitable for the most athletic hunters
of the tribe.-

That would essentially be running 4 marathons back to back at times
that might not win the Boston Marathon, but would get you pretty
close. I don't think that this can reasonably be considered normal
activity for humans.

.

Relevant Pages

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