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http://neurosciencenews.com/evolution-hands-fighting-2917/
"As an alternative, we suggest that the hand proportions that allow the formation of a fist may tell us something important about our evolutionary history and who we are as a species," Carrier adds. "If our anatomy is adapted for fighting, we need to be aware we always may be haunted by basic emotions and reflexive behaviors that often don't make sense – and are very dangerous – in the modern world," says biology Professor David Carrier.
Carrier and his collaborators not only have argued our hands evolved partly for punching but that the faces of human ancestors, the australopiths, evolved to resist punching – and that human faces became more delicate as our violence became less dependent on brute force. The new study sought more experimental evidence for his theory using nine male cadaver arms purchased from the university's body donor program and from a private supply company.
Shoryuken!
(Score: 2) by bradley13 on Monday October 26 2015, @04:01PM
What prompted my comment were more the responses to the research, which were also part of the article. Passages like these:
"Critics of the 'aggressive ape' theory of human evolution often argue that humans are by nature empathetic, cooperative and peaceful"
Sure we are... Dunno what dream world those people live in, but they apparently don't read the news.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2015, @04:52PM
Oh, we are very empathetic. Remember, empathy is about understanding the feelings of others; a psychopath who enjoys the suffering of others is also empathetic, or else he would be blind to that suffering and couldn't enjoy it.
We are also very cooperative. Note that war is generally a very cooperative activity; a single soldier can achieve very little.
About peaceful … well, probably they share the definition of peace that also the Nobel peace prize committee uses. ;-)
(Score: 3, Insightful) by linuxrocks123 on Monday October 26 2015, @05:17PM
The news is news because it's surprising and unusual. Do you, day to day, get into fights with other people? If so, you're the exception.
Violent crime isn't even a top 10 cause of death in the US: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm [cdc.gov]
Humans certainly can be violent. As with many things, a lot depends on culture. Specifically, humans can get into negative feedback loops where violence continues to cause more violence until something breaks the loop or everyone dies. Hence the proverb, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." Which is a very old proverb, indicating people have recognized violence as an undesirable cause of misery for quite a while.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 27 2015, @04:48PM
> "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." Which is a very old proverb
In evolutionary terms, nope, it isn't.