From Veggies to Meat: Man-Apes become human

The “man-apes” of Africa (australopithecines) was first discovered in a 1924 dig. This is considered by anthropologists as being one of the most exciting and enlightening finds of modern anthropology. The man-ape, which was first born perhaps a million years ago, represents the transition point of the transformation from ape to human. From the shuffling vegetarian ape to the upright walking carnivore human, this man-ape creature had the brain one-half the size of the modern human.

Most of what we now consider to be human has resulted from the taste for meat developing in this man-ape creature. Hunting for meat requires hunting in groups, which in turn requires better communication between individuals, which in turn requires better tools and weapons, which in turn requires newer forms of social organization, all of which leads to greater intellectual sophistication.

This greater intellectual sophistication has led this newly evolving species into the development of a much larger brain with the sophisticated reasoning ability of the modern human. Meat eating has made humans of us.

“Man developed away from the apes precisely because he had to hunt meat; and if you want to hunt meat you cannot afford yourself the luxury of baboon behavior.”

As a result of our carnivorous appetite we have developed non-primate social relations; we now regulate sexual behavior and develop families requiring new social harmonies. We now acquire our recognition from others not based upon what we take but from what we give. “Unlike the baboon who gluts himself only on food, man nourishes himself mostly on self-esteem…The hunting band lives in the security of internal peace necessary to get food, of the right of all to partake of what food there is, and of the certainty of the provision of regular sexual partners for all.”

We are now beginning to comprehend the fact that humans are primarily unique because wo/man is a total celebration of itself in distinctive self-expression.

Quotes from “The Birth and Death of Meaning”—Ernest Becker

It is also theorized that it could have been a bit different: that the fat in meat allowed us to grow better brains.

coberst:
I notice you posted this in issue politics rather than science and technology. Are you making some sort of sociological case against vegetarians?

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"Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders' equity, myself especially, are in a state of shock and disbelief." - Alan Greenspan

Generally, I don't trust people who don't eat meat...

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Obama's New "57 State Patriotic Pin":

Coberst, I consider it very rude to not tell your intention when you start a new thread. Besides, copy-pasting is against the rules.

I'll answer your post as if it was directed against vegetarians.

1) Many apes hunt and eat meat
2) The "luxury" of baboon behavior? Who are you kidding?
3) Civilization began when men began to cultivate the earth

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Client: In six days, do you hear me, six days, God made the world. And you are not bloody well capable of making me a pair of trousers in three months!
Tailor: But my dear Sir, my dear Sir, look at the world, and look at my trousers.
(Beckett)

It appears to me that this is a humanities issue although it comes from the science of anthropology.

I always prepare my posts off line and then copy and past them onto the forum. Why would such a practice be against the rules?

He means copying and pasting non original material and posting it without comment.

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"Some years ago I had a sobering realization about women, which was that there are just too many nice ones. One simply can't fall in love with, sleep with, or marry all the nice women...One of the saddening facts of life is that there is always going to be a delightful woman somewhere who, for whatever accident of timing or attraction, simply slips by and recedes to return only in a dream."
-Larry McMurtry in Roads

Baboons, like humans are omnivorous.
They even take sheep and goats in South Africa.
It was life on the dry grassy savanna that made the ape human.
Scavenging meat was a survival technique, walking on the hind legs let the apeman see farther, and cooperation was essential for survival, no trees to climb in case of danger.
But for all the heroic paintings of cave men bringing down bison and cave bears, the usual prey was more like frogs and mice.

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“ The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.”

Adam Smith , The Wealth of Nations 1776

"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics"
FDR's second Inaugural Address

Sorry, I thought that everything written was from “The Birth and Death of Meaning”—Ernest Becker.

Regardless, it's a bit annoying to know nothing of what you're up to. Were you trying to take a new approach to paleontology? Trying to show that vegetarians are apes? ...

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Client: In six days, do you hear me, six days, God made the world. And you are not bloody well capable of making me a pair of trousers in three months!
Tailor: But my dear Sir, my dear Sir, look at the world, and look at my trousers.
(Beckett)

What is this "what you're up to" mean? Is the OP not clear?

I have read something that I thought was remarkable and thought that others might find it to be interesting. My goal is to bring to the consciousness of the reader an idea that will ignite the readers interest and curiosity to the extent that s/he might go to the library and gain knowledge and understanding about the origin of our species.

I've been a vegan for more than 27 years, why don't you trust me?

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The apocalypse is coming... we're gonna need more ammo.

Rather a condensation. There is no evidence that australopithicus hunted - in fact, their brain development probably had far more to do with avoiding being something else's meal. They weren't toolmakers, didn't have language, and most likely were scavengers.

Homo erectus was pretty much the same - homo habilis was the toolmaker. It wasn't until cro-magnon that we have the complete picture - and yes, language and cooperation were needed for survival. No one fights off a saber tooth alone! Quite probably hunting was one area where brain development occured - but answering any dilemna forces brain connections.

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And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it." --George W. Bush, Jan. 29, 2007

Because I don't.

I don't know that I could put my finger on a "reason"; it's more of a gut feeling and gut reaction based on my experiences with vegetarians and vegans.

Nothin' personal...

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Obama's New "57 State Patriotic Pin":

It's funny that you feel that way, I've known vegetarians who felt the same way about eaters-of-the-dead because they don't trust anyone who will kill sentient beings to eat them. How could you turn your back on someone like that?

In the book THE SEXUAL POLITICS OF MEAT the author, Carol Adams, looks at the subtle and not so subtle cues in our culture that meat eating is a prerequiste for masculinity and vegetarians are seen as effeminate because they don't consume the "warrior's food".

By the same token though, a fellow once observed that "eating meat is simply cannibalism without its heroic dish."

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The apocalypse is coming... we're gonna need more ammo.