Homo sapiens as Long-Distance Runners
As a child, I was a master at chasing the ice cream man. I remember one time when that big white truck got a good four-block lead on me before I leapt outside in a pavlovian response to its musical tunes (I still salivate when I hear them). That time, the ice cream man let me chase him over a mile, clear into another neighborhood, before stopping to sell me $0.35 worth of sweet tarts. Although I was too young to care at the time, as an adult I look back on that experience and realize how degrading it was.
But no longer! The 2006 Discover article Born To Run explores the hypothesis that human beings evolved to be long-distance runners, allowing us to chase down big game, which could only flee across short distances at high bursts of speed.
I wasn’t some addict kid needing a sugar-fix, chasing after the ice cream truck!!! I was a lean, mean predator, following my primal instincts and running down my prey!!!
hehehe
Anyone else remember Eddie Murphy’s “The Ice Cream Man Is Coming!” bit from Delirious?
Comment by ClintJCL — July 23, 2008 @ 4:34 pm
I hate to say it, but I still run after the ice cream man. We’re lucky enough to live in a neighborhood where the ice cream man pretty regularly drives through. He doesn’t go into our cul-de-sac though, so when I hear the music, it’s time to sprint.
Comment by chriggy — July 23, 2008 @ 4:56 pm
Whatever helps you sleep at night, buddy. ;-)
Comment by Kav — July 23, 2008 @ 6:18 pm
“…not only can humans outlast horses, but over long distances and under the right conditions, they can also outrun just about any other animal on the planet—including dogs, wolves, hyenas, and antelope, the other great endurance runners. From our abundant sweat glands to our Achilles tendons, from our big knee joints to our muscular glutei maximi, human bodies are beautifully tuned running machines.”
DAMN STRAIGHT!!!!
Comment by Sour Swinger — July 23, 2008 @ 8:59 pm