I am a CS graduate and also a Biologist and there so much nonsense in this article that I cannot believe it was published.
"Even nature’s best animal distance runners — such as horses and dogs — will run similar distances only if forced to do so"
Those sentences are meaningless as arguments, we humans run for fun because we CAN spend calories as much as we like OR because we do it for food or we die like African long-range hunters, ask those guys to run 50km for fun. They do it because otherwise they will die hungry, we can be as heat efficient as we like, give us a small brain and we are DEAD.
Today we have an impossible large amount of food and medicine available thanks to human civilization. A horse run for his life when needed and that's it, there is no point in spending calories if everything is OK he will need to work a lot to get them back inside.
How can a person conclude that we are the best long-range runners in the nature with such a comparison ? What about scale ? I bet you that an Ant can run in a day more that any human can bare.
A professional runner does only one single thing with it's energy RUN, he doesn't need to hunt, or run for his life, get injured and heal for himself without medicine aid and they can have the chance to sleep 8 or more hours at night.
Try being a gazelle and doing that, you will last 5 seconds in nature, same thing for African long-range hunters they can sleep for 8 hours and rest... try sleeping 15 minute periods and eating and drinking only what you find on the run for all your life and chase a gazelle, good luck with that.
We are good at it, but the best in the planet ? I very much doubt it... most of the animals have evolved millions of years to endure nature in it's full power ( some got lucky and didn't had a very strong evolution force behind them like Lemurs in Madagascar) they are probably better than we are in every single thing besides thinking.
Sounds like you think humans aren't animals that have evolved to endure nature's full power. The article made some dumb statements, but the overall idea is sound. Humans can run prey animals into the ground in the same way that the wild dogs of Africa do.
So much nonsense? Where? I agree the "only if forced to" sentiment feels misplaced, but that sentence is in the third paragraph out of more than 15. Did you actually finish reading it or stop there? He didn't conclude that humans are the best runners cause herp derp dogs don't run that far unless they have to.
> ask those guys to run 50km for fun
The Indian tribe in born to run play a game similar to soccer. The course is about 20 miles long and the game lasts upwards of 48 solid hours, with players joining and leaving as they feel. So yes, they do it for fun. And we are still talking about present day Africa, this is not millions of years ago. The persistence hunters there have weapons, they have bows and arrows, they will not starve if they don't hunt this particular way. It's their way of life.
Most of the animals have evolved millions of years...and, humans didn't? I think there is so much nonsense in your comment that I cant believe it was published :p
"Even nature’s best animal distance runners — such as horses and dogs — will run similar distances only if forced to do so"
Those sentences are meaningless as arguments, we humans run for fun because we CAN spend calories as much as we like OR because we do it for food or we die like African long-range hunters, ask those guys to run 50km for fun. They do it because otherwise they will die hungry, we can be as heat efficient as we like, give us a small brain and we are DEAD.
Today we have an impossible large amount of food and medicine available thanks to human civilization. A horse run for his life when needed and that's it, there is no point in spending calories if everything is OK he will need to work a lot to get them back inside.
How can a person conclude that we are the best long-range runners in the nature with such a comparison ? What about scale ? I bet you that an Ant can run in a day more that any human can bare.
A professional runner does only one single thing with it's energy RUN, he doesn't need to hunt, or run for his life, get injured and heal for himself without medicine aid and they can have the chance to sleep 8 or more hours at night. Try being a gazelle and doing that, you will last 5 seconds in nature, same thing for African long-range hunters they can sleep for 8 hours and rest... try sleeping 15 minute periods and eating and drinking only what you find on the run for all your life and chase a gazelle, good luck with that.
We are good at it, but the best in the planet ? I very much doubt it... most of the animals have evolved millions of years to endure nature in it's full power ( some got lucky and didn't had a very strong evolution force behind them like Lemurs in Madagascar) they are probably better than we are in every single thing besides thinking.