scartrek:

diananock:

questbedhead:

homeworldlapis:

to add to this “humans are weird” thing
did you know that humans are the only species on earth with the ability to throw things with any significant degree of accuracy and force (apes can throw with about the force of a human ten year old, but cant lock their wrists well enough for accuracy)

and we just never really think about it bc its so easy and simple to us that pretty much all of our sports are based around the concept of throwing things accurately

so
what if the concept of projectile weapons takes most species FOREVER to get the hang of, or even come up with in the first place.
a human goes onto a ship and throws some trash into the nearest reclaimer, shouts “kobe!” and all the other aliens on board absolutely LOSE THEIR MINDS

I definitely didn’t know this about humans but it’s actually really neat

Also! It’s interesting to me that early hominids (pre-Homo) were apparently really weak runners! This is because they lacked a strong, elastic Achilles tendon. Even though they were bipedal, they were still transitioning from a tree-dwelling physiology similar to our chimpanzee and gorilla relatives. Other apes completely lack an Achilles tendon, their calf muscles attaching directly to the heel bone.

Not only does the Achilles tendon allow us to move faster bipedally, but it’s also what allows us to be such amazing long-distance runners. Early human hunters, even without any weapons, could take down large game just by outlasting it in a long-distance chase. Our great running ability, combined with accurate throwing arms and just being able to sweat and cool off quickly when exerting ourselves, made us apex predators!

And of course, there’s the line of thought that our brains expanded mostly after we incorporated meat into our diet—since it’s so calorie-dense and able to give a large brain the fuel it needs—which means it’s very likely that our weird gifts in running and throwing things are WHY we’re smart and able to even discuss this stuff.

I think that’s pretty cool!

So, you’re saying that scientifically, the things that set humans apart from other species is that we can run back and forth nearly forever and we can throw longer and more accurately.