Vegetarians Are Stupid!

POSTED BY: CrevanReaver
UPDATED: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 01:35
VIEWED: 6209
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CREVANREAVER

Thursday, June 7, 2007 1:50 AM

That is not my opinion, that is prevailing scientific theory. In fact, current scientific thinking is that eating meat is what gave rise to intelligence and allowed Homo Sapiens (humans) to evolve.

If we trace human evolution back as far as current science allows, we arrive at a small primate that lived in Africa several million years ago called Australopithecus. There were actually two sub-species of Australopithecus, Australopithecus Africanus and Australopithecus Robustus. Africanus were small tree dwelling, vegetarian primates that primarily lived in trees but could also walk upright. Robustus was a more robust version of Australopithecus that was also vegetarian and apparently fed on roots and tubers instead of tree leaves and/or fruit like Africanus. Scientists have created molds of the brain cases of both Africanus and Robustus and have proven that the human brain could only have evolved from Australopithecus Africanus.

Australopithecus Africanus was a small, squat hominid that stood about 4 feet tall with a rather pronounced gut. This large gut was necessary in order to process the vegetarian fare that made up the bulk of Australopithecus Africanus’ diet. Vegetation is very tough to break down and thus requires a lot of processing, hence a large, complex digestive track is necessary. Now, these Australopithecus Africanus lived on the ancient African plain alongside the ancestors of today’s wildebeests, lions, cheetahs, hyenas, etc. As such, Australopithecus Africanus was probably a nice meal or snack for many of the fiercest land predators of the day.

As such, the question must arise as to how these small, docile monkeys could have possibly survived, thrived and eventually dominated these fierce predators and competed with them for meat. The answer lies in the evolution of intelligence. These small Australopithecus Africanus found meat that was left behind by predators and other scavengers. Prevailing scientific theory holds that after an animal, such as a wildebeest or zebra was killed by a lion or cheetah and then scavenged by hyenas, the only meat left was the brain, buried deep in the skull and marrow, buried deep inside the bones. Australopithecus Africanus had enough intelligence to use tools to pry open the skulls of slain animals to get to their brains and break femurs and other bones in order to suck out the marrow. Brains and marrow are incredible, high-energy sources of protein. Therefore, these Australopithecus Africanus evolved into omnivores.

So what does this mean? Well, to understand that, one must first understand that meat is much, much easier to break down and digest than vegetation. As mentioned, a steady diet of vegetation requires a rather large and complex digestive track or gut. Now, guts are an extremely expensive organ, energy-wise. However, as these Australopithecus Africanus evolved to eating meat, they did not require these complex and energy-hungry guts, because meat could be digested much more easily. Freed from the requirements of their guts, Australopithecus Africanus was free to expend more energy in evolving other organs. And the organ that aided Australopithecus Africanus the most was its brain. Why? Because a better brain meant better tools with which to get at more meat. Australopithecus Africanus that were good tool builders survived and those that were poor tool builders did not survive. This led to an evolutionary adaptation that fed back on itself. More meat meant less guts which allowed the development of better brains. Better brains meant better tools, which meant more meat. Even more meat meant even less guts which allowed the development of even better brains…

OK, so who cares? Well, I care for one. But knowing how our human intelligence evolved, while interesting, is only really useful if we can use that knowledge and apply it to our society today. So what application does this knowledge have to our society today? Well, I would argue that it means that today’s vegetarians are in the early evolutionary stages of devolving their brain sizes and intel

RUE

Thursday, June 7, 2007 2:06 AM

"eating meat is what gave rise to intelligence"

More like eating fish, shellfish, eggs, bugs ...

MISSTRESSAHARA

Thursday, June 7, 2007 2:25 AM

Oooo, this is gonna start somethin'.

Sit's back to watch.

Btw, meat is tastey, did people know that?

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RUE

Thursday, June 7, 2007 2:35 AM

Nah. I gotta boogie ...

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Thursday, June 7, 2007 2:39 AM

Animal flesh and organs are a good source of Omega-6 fatty acids, which are required by the brain, and very well could have played a part in human evolution.

One of the lectures on Roman history that I heard once said that one of the main reasons why the Roman, Greek and Punic cultures were so successful, and therefore why Western culture was so successful, was because of the Mediterranean diet, which was and is very high in ω-3, ω-6, and ω-9 fatty acids. All of which are crucial to human brain function and two of which are not produced naturally within the body. I don’t know if you can really go that far, but I do believe that one of the principle reasons why Roman culture was so successful was because of the consumption of Olive Oil, and I think most historians agree with that.

The Mediterranean diet is considered by many, maybe even most, nutritionists today as one of the healthiest traditional diets around. And it’s tasty too.

Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.

Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.

-- Cicero

SIGMANUNKI

Thursday, June 7, 2007 3:28 AM

This isn't without problems. One being India. A lot of math, etc has come out of that country.

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FREMDFIRMA

Thursday, June 7, 2007 7:29 AM

I really don't have the background to comment beyond that human beings are obviously omnivorous by design, and I think it has less to do with intelligence than raw survivability and adaptation.

Being able to eat almost ANYTHING has it's advantages you know.

-F

KANEMAN

Thursday, June 7, 2007 2:58 PM

What about those that don't eat their veggies?

WHODIED

Thursday, June 7, 2007 4:03 PM

Wait-- does this mean that the missing link is a piece of sausage?

--WhoDied

_______________________

This is a shrimp fork. He's going to eat the guy's brains with a shrimp fork?

Well pardon me if our ancient ancestors didn't leave behind any... brain-eating forks.

Get a soup spoon, you moron.

HKCAVALIER

Thursday, June 7, 2007 4:28 PM

Yeah, and eating meat increases aggression and is the root cause of wars, rape and child abuse.

What I want to know is why so many folks who eat meat feel the need to malign vegitarians. Is it just revenge against the one or two vegan nazis they've maybe met? Or is there something vaguely shameful inherent in meat consumption? Ah, that's it, eating meat is also the source of alcoholism and religious fundamentalism.

Any of you familiar with the "field" of sociobiology? Back in the late 70's it was fashionable to make all kinds of asinine assertions based on flimsy false analogies and post hoc ergo propter hoc arguments like this. Human rape is healthy because malard ducks do it! That sort of thing.

Truth is, a very small amount of meat in one's diet--infinitesimal by modern American standards--will get you enough of the acids in question. And red meat is by no means the best source, anyway.

So what?

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

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