This month's issue of National Geographic magazine contains an article about early human ancestors or hominids.
During the course of reading this fascinating article, I ran across a statement that appears to be cropping up with considerable frequency in scientific journals. That is that our ancestors were placed on the evolutionary track to advanced intelligence by switching from a pure vegetarian diet to the eating of meat.
The extra protein allowed the development of an enlarged and more efficient brain, which is typical of predators. This has set me to wondering about a number of human behaviors which otherwise defy explanation.
1. Hunting: Is it instinctive for homo-sapiens? I often hear long-time hunters talk about the "need" to hunt, or that hunting satisfies a "need" that cannot be otherwise explained. Hail, I feel this way myself. I know of no plant-eating animal that experiences increased pulse and respiratory rates at the sight of another herbivore. However, I've seen a number of predators in the wild that appear to experience what human hunters call the "buck aggers" when a prey animal is sighted.
2. Violence: Could predatory instincts be the source of much of the violence that has shaped so much of human history? This might explain some of our actions that seem to defy any other explaination.
3. Future Human Evolution: What would to happen to human evolution if all of humanity's societies and cultures went totally vegetarian, as some animal rights groups would have us do? Would our intellect slowly deteriorate from lack of protein?
What do you think?
