which is meant to eat meat

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Except not really. If we tried to eat meat the way other animals who ate meat did, without tools, treatment and cooking, we would die a lot lot younger.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

look at your canine teeth. Our bodies have evolved over the past few thousand years to eat meat that has been cooked. This doesn't mean we aren't meant to eat meat, it just means we've evolved towards eating meat that's more refined. It's like scavengers that have evolved to eat rotting meat, we'd get sick if we did because we don't have the same kind of immune system, but organisms like vultures won't.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

If we have evolved to eat cooked meat, then why did we ever cook it in the first place, I mean if you're right then we would have had no incentive to stop eating meat raw, because it was absolutely fine, right? My canine teeth are great for tearing things yes, but compared to other omnivores and carnivores, our canine teeth are absolutely pathetic, and in the history of humans, always have been.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

because meat less tough when it is cooked, and as we developed tools and fire we could afford to. I see what you're saying about how it would be unnecissary but it was a coevolution. We didn't start cooking our meat until we developed fire and spearheads (why would prehistoric humans have developed these if not for hunting). We started cooking our meat because we could, and that allowed us to not need the same physiology for eating raw meat. If you look at the skull of a prehistoric homo sapien, you will also notice that the canines are much more pronounced, we just don't need them as much anymore. We can still eat raw meat anyway, ever heard of steak tartar?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

You basically just asked why humans had incentive to improve something. I want you to think about that.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Also, we have our eyes facing frontwards, instead of out to the side, which is a characteristic of a predator.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

precisely

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Since when do humans have claws?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

The little things on the end of our limbs, the ones which we can't use for hunting because of how weak they are, but we use mostly for precise gripping.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I believed they are referred to as fingers.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

No, they're called finger nails, or toenails, but they're claws by definition.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Well now that I know I have claws I feel less pathetic for being human. We got really ripped off defense wise. Sure we got advanced brain activity which allows us to wield weapons effectively but I still have the feeling that knowing how to fight with a stick won't help me survive a lion.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Knowing how to fight with a rifle might.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I was speaking more so in the past when we had to fight animals without guns. But yah we kicked some ass once we learned to shoot metal.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

historically speaking humans have actually done quite well at killing lions with sticks, or spears technically. it is actually a right of passage for men in some African tribes I believe.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Your earlier statement implied that you were talking about fingers, because since when do we use fingernails for "precise gripping?"

by Anonymous 13 years ago

What do you use your fingernails for?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

To protect the ends of your fingers.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

From?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Hammers, thorns, I don't know

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Human nature is to eat whatever we can to survive. That's sort of why the earliest groups were Hunter Gatherers. Not just Hunters. Sometimes the dudes failed horribly at killing whatever it was they were chasing so they came on home to the ladies being awesome at their jobs having found tons of fruits/vegetables/assorted whatever else. I don't have an article to back this up and I'm to lazy to look for one but according to my sociology teacher, the Gathering part of those groups was where most of the food came from. So really eating plants would be more in our nature than eating meat. Really comes down to us just being hungry as hell and deciding to eat whatever we can cause we can.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I agree with what you're saying, but the man-hunter and woman-gatherer thing is a complete myth derived from biases from contemporary gender roles being used to fill in holes in the archaeological record. I would have thought a sociology class would teach that.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

No, like the person above said we are omnivores. Just because e don't have Sharp claws or a mouth full if canine does not mean we are meant to be vegetarians. We are meant to eat both meat and plants. Also, you could look at the human anatomy and see that we are not meant to be wholly vegetarians, either (vegan will work better for this example): Almost all herbivores have a cecum in their digestive tract which can be longer than their intestines. Do you know what our cecum is? Our appendix, which can be considered a vertical organ, use to help with the breakdown of cellulose and stuff, which human can't do at all like other herbivores. Some hypothesize that earlier forms if humans had a definite need for the appendix, but as of now, we don't.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Sorry for typos. I'm on mobile. * vestigial instead of vertical.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Oh, and I'm not going against vegetarianism, just your argument.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

aactually, our ancestors used to have longer canines and tougher nails/claws. we evolved out if it as we found them less useful for our civilizations

by Anonymous 13 years ago

So that means are ancestors were always omnivores. I'm just saying that the examples OP gives doesn't really prove that we are supposed to be vegetarians.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

i was trying to help prove your point

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Oh, well thank you!

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Reasons humans are meant to eat meat: we have canines, our eyes are in the front of our heads like most other predators, out closest ancestors eat meat. Reasons humans are meant to eat things besides meat: we have molars. So what can we conclude from this? Humans are supposed to be omnivores, but can survive as long as we get nutrients.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

also humans are somewhat intelligent, which most herbivorous animals are not.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Pigs are extremely intelligent.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

they're omnivorous. mostly they eat plants, but like humans, they'll eat whatever they can get.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Because, as everyone knows, canines are used primarily for eating plants.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I Honestly don't know what the fuss is about. This post is made by someone who doesn't understand the concept of evolving out of something. We evolved out of Claws, sharp teeth, etc because we didn't need them anymore because we had tools to do the job better.The healthiest a person can be is if they eat both plants and meat. If you have just plants, you are eating substitutes. Protein, for example is found in meat, beans etc, but our main source of it should be in meat. A vegetarian is not eating the healthiest that they can, end of story.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

No, it was made by a Christian who doesn't believe in evolution, and therefore, thinks we are what we have always been (if that makes sense).

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Our eyes are front facing, not on the sides of our heads, making us predators. Just sayin'.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

It's called archaeology. Take a class. And you will understand how very painfully wrong you are. I hate it when vegetarians use the whole "humans aren't meant to eat meat" as a reason to validate their lifestyle, because it's completely FALSE, and this is coming from a vegetarian! Have whatever reasons you want, but this one is complete crap.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I don't eat meat because I watched Food Inc. in 7th grade. 'Nuff said.

by Anonymous 13 years ago