Humans, apparently, throw like gods

In addition to our ability to throw shit, humans also have some of the best endurance that mammals have to offer. An example of this is the Human V Horse race in Wales. The race is a 22-mile / 35-kilometer marathon that takes place in mountainous terrain. Normally, a horse would beat a human in a race without a problem. But in a marathon, humans actually stand a chance with an occasional victor in this specific annual race. All due to our exceptional endurance.

Put the projectiles and endurance together, and we make for a terrifying hunter. Imagine you're some other animal out in the wild. Maybe you're really fast or really strong. But if a determined human really wants to try and kill you, there's no out-running it. It'll catch up eventually. And if you choose to fight the human, they'll get the first blow.

But if a determined human really wants to try and kill you, there's no out-running it. It'll catch up eventually.
We are the metaphorical snail that relentlessly pursues to kill.
- A lot of horror stories rely on humans being persistence hunted in some way
Human V Horse race in Wales
When it's hot out, the human wins. When it's cold/cool, humans can't stand a chance against the horses. Similarly, wolves and dogs can easily outrun humans in the cold, but lose to humans when it's hot.
That's because the biggest comparative advantage that humans have is actually thermal management while running, not the act of running itself.
Humans sweat. This means we can actually perform intense exercise even in heat, without overheating as easily as most other animals. Most quadruped mammals pant to cool, and have their breaths tied to their steps while running, so they can't cool themselves efficiently while on the move. Persistence hunting doesn't tire out prey, but actually overheats the prey to where they can't run any further.
Throw in the fact that we can throw, handle weapons while running, climb shit, talk, invent things, etc., and we really have been a deadly species for long before industrialization.
- Do they actually allow the horses to run to exhaustion in the heat?
  Googling
  No, there are mandatory vet checks that can last large amounts of time that are deducted from all horses time. So the cold/heat makes a negligible difference, the horses get long rest periods either way and have historically often won even in years where it was very hot.
and don’t forget that humans have excellent and precise communication skills, too. At least in theory. One human might not be able to kill the wild animal, but a group can.
It just occurred to me we're long-range heat-seeking missiles
I remember reading somewhere that the primitive human used to hunt just like that, keep following the prey in marathon, tracking their foot step, and slowly drain out the stamina of a prey. Sprinting takes a lot of energy in all animal so it kinda makes sense.
Let’s also add on that humans used a tactic called “persistence hunting”, in which you follow after some animal at a brisk pace startling it every time it tries to rest. With nothing more than sweat glands, pointy sticks and ridiculous endurance, we marathon jogged some species to extinction!
- That's what made dogs perfect as pets.
  Our ancestors noticed these animals that would follow us around in packs. They could generally keep up with us, form bonds easily, were pretty good at killing, and mostly ate the parts of the animals we didn't.
  We just chose the ones who were coolest with us and just bred the ones who loved us the most.
Tracking skills would also have to be part of the arsenal, otherwise something could just run far enough fast enough that we couldn't find it, despite our endurance.
Also, we can and do eat some mild poisons because they’re tasty somehow.
I have a love of chocolate, but smaller animals can’t eat as much without severe metabolic issues that might kill them.
And capsaicin is straight-up an anti-mammal deterrent. Birds might be able to eat it with no reaction at all. Meanwhile humans just deal with their temperature receptors being freaking hacked for seemingly no other reason than fun.
- The poison thing is relative, there are animals that can eat things toxic to us and vice versa.
- And we eat some because we enjoy altered mental states.

I must be a lesser ape then because I can't aim for shit

You have the ability to. Doesn't mean you have the skill
- I tried so so hard to learn and though throughout my childhood and teens and I can't for the life of me figure it out. Might be an autism thing?
TIL I could be out-pitched by most other apes because I'm so weak. I am a shame of a human.

Transcription:

vriskalazuli

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

145,819 notes

TIL, I might not be human.

username checks out

Proof positive that man was created by ~~god~~ dog.

the archerfish can accurately spit jets of water to hunt inscects ... I'm sure there are much more examples of other species accurately throwing things around. we're not that special ...

This is a pretty big stretch. I wouldn't say spitting and throwing are comparable.
I'm interested in hearing about the other examples of species accurately throwing things though.
- it is not such a stretch. according to Oxford dictionary, to throw is :
  1.propel (something) with force through the air by a movement of the arm and hand.
  which is a very human concept. We then can not judge other species ability to do it (exept primates). just like we can not say animals don't have languages because thay don't speak english.
  2.send suddenly into a particular state or condition.
  The archer fish is then very efficient at sending water into a particular state or condition with high accuracy.
  the octopus for exemple has been observed throwing stuff around.
  edit : elephants do it to. and you can find plenty of bird examples.

Are you sure?

Must be a god among apes

I mean duh. Have you guys read 2001: A Space Odyssey?

This sounds fake

Nope, we are really fucking good at throwing. Basically we created a feadback loop due to how throwing with more accuracy and force was better for hunting and defense that it increased survival ratings. This in turn meant those who threw better got to breed while those who didnt died.
- I wonder if the inherent ability to do the physics required to do an accurate throw fed into humanity’s ability to do maths?