The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth!

[Arawn-ap-Hywel]

"Report: Humans evolved to be peaceful
ST. LOUIS, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Humans evolved to be peaceful, cooperative and social animals, not the predators modern mythology would have us believe, says an U.S. anthropologist.

Robert W. Sussman, of Washington University in St. Louis, goes against the prevailing view and argues that primates, including early humans, evolved not as hunters but as prey of many predators, including wild dogs and cats, hyenas, eagles and crocodiles.

"Our intelligence, cooperation and many other features we have as modern humans developed from our attempts to out-smart the predator," says Sussman, the author of, "Man the Hunted: Primates, Predators and Human Evolution."

The idea of "Man the Hunter" is the generally accepted paradigm of human evolution, says Sussman.

"It developed from a basic Judeo-Christian ideology of man being inherently evil, aggressive and a natural killer," Sussman told the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in St. Louis. "In fact, when you really examine the fossil and living non-human primate evidence, that is just not the case."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/inde...erativeman.xml


Comments welcomed from those with a different view

[SteveA]

That an interesting view. We don't come with built in claws, fur, or long canines and compared to other animals our children have little instinctive ability to do much of anything.

An octopus is suppose to have a very complex nervous system for similar reasons. They have little of any natural offensive abilities but instead use stealth (camoflage), trickery (ink and an ability to form a wide variety of shapes ... I saw a documentary where one walked on two legs) and intelligence to compensate. Sharks don't need to do anything fancy except swim fast and grow lots of teeth. If I could collect a bet a million years from now on whether sharks or octopi will be the first to build eight fishing poles, I'd place it on the octopus