Also, you mentioned the "great spurt of intelligence" 50k years ago. Ive heard of this but my knowledge of it is quite lacking. If you want to drop some wisdom on this topic you're more than welcome. Either by a post of yourself or some links to good reading material. It's a part of our evolution i'm keen on to expand my knowledge about.
Meat made us smarter
- Thread starter masta247
- Start date
Yeah that's sort of what that article states.
However it was meat that allowed us to feed our brains with required nutrition, especially cooked meat. Nothing at that time could compete if it comes to nutritive values.
Cooking vegetables was pretty pointless back then. There was a point to smash them with a rock though.
We became successful gatherers (able to grow domesticated, edible plants) long after we learned to cook and eat meat which boosted our brain's growth. Actually only 10000 years ago or so we learned to successfully grow our fruits and vegetables for food and it took much longer for them to be well domesticated. Till that time we were scavenging for anything we could but meat was obviously the best thing we could find. It involved a lot of hunting and since nature wasn't too generous for our bodies that had no natural weapons we had to develop more and more efficient tools. Hunting sparked our intelligence in a major way.
Most wild fruits and vegetables that we were able to find weren't nutritive enough earlier. Cooking them would reduce the needed amount of food-processing but would also make that food even less nutritious.
Perhaps we owe our intelligence to the fact, that our bodies were inferior to most other creatures. We had it tougher and just had to find some ways to survive. Then the smarter we were the faster we evolved. At some point we developed an instinct that made us want to discover, travel and develop new things - the reason behind most of our inventions.
Then we became able to consciously decide how do we want to evolve. A chain reaction.
Like I stated in my second post, eating and cooking meat definitely wasn't the only factor. We had to protect against predators but there are many other animals that have to do it too to survive yet that doesn't help them develop higher intelligence.
Also, evolution prefers active, offensive behavior and favors it with faster development than passive, defensive species. Finding food was the most important aspect of survival.
I think that we developed more tools, intelligence and strategies while hunting for food, for animals. Then it was about cooperation and secondary survival traits.
Right now we are successful enough with fruits, vegetables and science that we don't really need meat because we can replace it. We can grow our fruits to be way more nutritious than they were even a few hundred years ago.
And yes, I believe that we'll slowly start abandoning meat as our primary meals. It played its part, a big part for a very long time though. Thanks to our evolution we have a choice right now. Also intelligence and all required resources to make a free choice.
The fact that it's easier and faster to improve our fruits and vegetables than it is with livestock might make the choice easier in the future.
However it was meat that allowed us to feed our brains with required nutrition, especially cooked meat. Nothing at that time could compete if it comes to nutritive values.
Cooking vegetables was pretty pointless back then. There was a point to smash them with a rock though.
We became successful gatherers (able to grow domesticated, edible plants) long after we learned to cook and eat meat which boosted our brain's growth. Actually only 10000 years ago or so we learned to successfully grow our fruits and vegetables for food and it took much longer for them to be well domesticated. Till that time we were scavenging for anything we could but meat was obviously the best thing we could find. It involved a lot of hunting and since nature wasn't too generous for our bodies that had no natural weapons we had to develop more and more efficient tools. Hunting sparked our intelligence in a major way.
Most wild fruits and vegetables that we were able to find weren't nutritive enough earlier. Cooking them would reduce the needed amount of food-processing but would also make that food even less nutritious.
Perhaps we owe our intelligence to the fact, that our bodies were inferior to most other creatures. We had it tougher and just had to find some ways to survive. Then the smarter we were the faster we evolved. At some point we developed an instinct that made us want to discover, travel and develop new things - the reason behind most of our inventions.
Then we became able to consciously decide how do we want to evolve. A chain reaction.
Like I stated in my second post, eating and cooking meat definitely wasn't the only factor. We had to protect against predators but there are many other animals that have to do it too to survive yet that doesn't help them develop higher intelligence.
Also, evolution prefers active, offensive behavior and favors it with faster development than passive, defensive species. Finding food was the most important aspect of survival.
I think that we developed more tools, intelligence and strategies while hunting for food, for animals. Then it was about cooperation and secondary survival traits.
Right now we are successful enough with fruits, vegetables and science that we don't really need meat because we can replace it. We can grow our fruits to be way more nutritious than they were even a few hundred years ago.
And yes, I believe that we'll slowly start abandoning meat as our primary meals. It played its part, a big part for a very long time though. Thanks to our evolution we have a choice right now. Also intelligence and all required resources to make a free choice.
The fact that it's easier and faster to improve our fruits and vegetables than it is with livestock might make the choice easier in the future.
Yeah, this is the underlying point I was trying to get across - the fact that a far higher percentage of vegetarians and vegans are incredibly intelligent compared to omnivores, because our dietary choices reflect rationale, reason, logic and compassion.
The unintelligent of this world do not take any consideration of this diet.
The easiest way to observe this, as I've found, is to walk into a McDonalds/KFC/Burger King/etc and observe the people present. I have found that more than 90% of the people in there at any given time are quite clearly both unintelligent and unhealthy. They are largely unattractive with poor personal hygiene, chattering inanely about their petty problems whilst they stuff mass-processed, rotting carcasses into their slack-jawed mouths.
Contrast this with your average vegetarian or vegan eatery, full of glowing, healthy, intelligent, beautiful, educated, compassionate people, who care equally for others and the world as they do about their own self. People whose work makes a positive difference and inspires others around them to be better people. Well-read, well-versed people who can engage in deep debate on a myriad of philosophical, existential, cultural or socio-political issues.
This is not elitism, or class-based. There are fat rich bankers stuffing their faces in McD's, and there are poor students in the vegetarian resturants that can talk to you for days about Marx, Factory Farming and Art.
It's simply about intelligence, understanding, logic and compassion. Everyone has access to the knowledge and the information, whether it's via the internet or simply your local library.
But if you aren't smart enough to take the intiative, then you'll stay with the dregs of society living an ultimately pointless existence.
Come to one of our afterparties when there's an open bar and groupies hanging on my every word and then tell me if that's still true.
Seriously, get off my jock. You know nothing about me. "Boring" is probably, quite literally, the LAST word anyone who's ever listened to my music and seen me perform would ever use to describe me.
Or are we just throwing random, baseless insults with no merit around now? Because I can play that game......incredibly well, if you want to go there.
Seriously, get off my jock. You know nothing about me. "Boring" is probably, quite literally, the LAST word anyone who's ever listened to my music and seen me perform would ever use to describe me.
Or are we just throwing random, baseless insults with no merit around now? Because I can play that game......incredibly well, if you want to go there.
That's not what I said, actually. I was referring to 90% of the people who I observe eating at McDonalds/KFC, not meat eaters in general. Obviously I know plenty of people who eat meat that don't fit that description including many family and friends....but they're smart enough to not eat at McDonalds.
Did you actually miss my point? If not, why are you so defensive about McDonalds? Maybe you work at one?
I have a fat face. Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure. Maybe in your fantasy world.
I notice you're too insecure to ever have posted a picture of yourself. Want to talk about my appearance? OK, Mr Handsome, let's see a shot of you, then. Preferably not in your McDonalds uniform.
Or perhaps you'd rather not confirm my suspicions that you are a slack-jawed, lazy-bug-eyed, bucktoothed inbred, cleft-lipped, overweight, zit-covered, shit-mustached, pale, slug-resembling, jizz-eating pathetic excuse for a human being? OK then.
Did you actually miss my point? If not, why are you so defensive about McDonalds? Maybe you work at one?
I have a fat face. Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure. Maybe in your fantasy world.
I notice you're too insecure to ever have posted a picture of yourself. Want to talk about my appearance? OK, Mr Handsome, let's see a shot of you, then. Preferably not in your McDonalds uniform.
Or perhaps you'd rather not confirm my suspicions that you are a slack-jawed, lazy-bug-eyed, bucktoothed inbred, cleft-lipped, overweight, zit-covered, shit-mustached, pale, slug-resembling, jizz-eating pathetic excuse for a human being? OK then.
I'm not "touchy" about my looks, I'm touchy about people talking complete and utter shite with no merit.
I also find it ironic that you said "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" while making remarks about my appearance despite having never posted your own pic, like you have something to hide.
Now - do you have anything intelligent to say on the thread matter?
I also find it ironic that you said "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" while making remarks about my appearance despite having never posted your own pic, like you have something to hide.
Now - do you have anything intelligent to say on the thread matter?
but you are comparing people who eat fast food with vegetarians, not someone who might eat a piece of good quality steak or chicken breast for their dinner. its not really a fair comparison.
obviously if people are going to be eating fast food all the time they are gonna be fat, unhealthy etc.
i eat meat, as you well know, but i rarely if ever eat fast food. these days ill only have the occasional subway or a pizza.
i like to think that my diet is pretty healthy and well balanced.
obviously if people are going to be eating fast food all the time they are gonna be fat, unhealthy etc.
i eat meat, as you well know, but i rarely if ever eat fast food. these days ill only have the occasional subway or a pizza.
i like to think that my diet is pretty healthy and well balanced.
well he does sort of have a point but i wouldnt say 90% of the people who go there lol. plenty of attractive people go to McDonalds, Burger King etc occasionally but you have to admit someone who goes there all the time is going to be overweight, unhealthy looking etc. and there are people like this. they eat their dinner or lunch in these place every day. If said people stopped eating there they might be more attractive looking.
It's not an insult, it's an observation.
Exactly. Obviously it doesn't apply to every single person that ever goes there. But it's definitely a majority, and definitely enough people to make that statement valid. 90% may have been extreme, but from the times I have walked past those places, that's been the case, and I've found it to be true in multiple countries I've been in.
Yeah, this is a fair and valid point. I was kinda comparing the two opposite ends of the spectrum for effective contrast. Of course, there is a middle ground where you've got people that eat a minimal amount of less fatty meat, don't eat fast food and are fairly healthy, and of course you also vegetarians that might eat a lot of junk foods like fries, pizzas, greasy chinese food and can be fairly unhealthy despite being vegetarian.
I myself had some bad habits as a vegetarian, I ate too much dairy and too many carbs. But since I became a vegan, there's pretty much no room in the diet for unhealthy stuff, lol. So I'm damn near 10 stone now and I've had at least 7 people tell me in the last 2 months alone that I appear to have lost a lot of weight since they last saw me. Which is nice, not that I ever weighed much before.
Exactly. Obviously it doesn't apply to every single person that ever goes there. But it's definitely a majority, and definitely enough people to make that statement valid. 90% may have been extreme, but from the times I have walked past those places, that's been the case, and I've found it to be true in multiple countries I've been in.
Yeah, this is a fair and valid point. I was kinda comparing the two opposite ends of the spectrum for effective contrast. Of course, there is a middle ground where you've got people that eat a minimal amount of less fatty meat, don't eat fast food and are fairly healthy, and of course you also vegetarians that might eat a lot of junk foods like fries, pizzas, greasy chinese food and can be fairly unhealthy despite being vegetarian.
I myself had some bad habits as a vegetarian, I ate too much dairy and too many carbs. But since I became a vegan, there's pretty much no room in the diet for unhealthy stuff, lol. So I'm damn near 10 stone now and I've had at least 7 people tell me in the last 2 months alone that I appear to have lost a lot of weight since they last saw me. Which is nice, not that I ever weighed much before.
Yeah i agree with this, i never knew he meant people who went there all the time. Obviously if people go there all day everyday its gonna be bad news, but i know of no such people. He's entitled to his opinion and observations just like i am, for instance i think most veggies i know dont look healthy. Im from Scotland the heart attack capital of the world! and anytime im in fast food places i dont see the fat unhealthy smelly uneducated people he seems to see. In other words the 90% is pure drivel. For example if you had people on the doors checking peoples weight for a day im thinking the people who were overweight would probably be about 25/30 percent.
tbh i cant really comment. because the last time i ate at McDonalds was at least 5 years ago. I was in Burger King more recently but just to use the toilets. i never really paid much attention to the people earting there.
I do like the Chicken ROyale from Burger King. havent had one in a few years though.
I do like the Chicken ROyale from Burger King. havent had one in a few years though.
You won't die from eating a cheeseburger or two.
I tend to visit McDonald or KFC about twice a month or so - more often when I'm too busy to go home to eat. I enjoy that but I don't like to eat there often yet some people who care about me think that it's too much. I also eat at other restaurants (normal restaurants, not fast food) often but I like variety.
The point is that whenever I eat at McDonalds I don't instantly order heaps of the biggest heart-stopper burgers. My casual McDonalds dinner doesn't contain that many more calories than any other meal would because I don't eat like an elephant. And a bigger amount of fat and salt from time to time won't harm me either.
The problem starts when you eat a lot of fat burgers and it's almost a habit for you. I would agree that 90% of these people probably don't look healthy at all.
The thing is that 95-97% of people who go there here look very healthy but then again we don't have any serious problems with overweight people. Fat people are pretty much a rare sight.
That's probably because our mentality is different and we don't have these guys who eat junk food everyday.
Most people wouldn't eat at fast food joints more often than once or twice a week and if they did they would eat a burger or two after which they would feel too guilty to eat more.
I don't know a single person that would base their diet on fast food restaurants. Most people I see at McDonalds are just normal, pretty random people who don't eat there very often.
Also there's a significant difference between the amount of food that people consume at McDonalds/KFC here and the amount of food that people tend to consume in these restaurants in the US.
Everyone is aware that food there is not healthy and thus here McDonalds/KFC seems to be the "last resort" for many people. Some people would rather struggle with their hunger than eat a hamburger if they already had one a day or two ago.
And other than fast foods our traditional dishes are pretty well balanced and healthy despite the fact that some of them contain relatively a lot of fat and most of them includes meat.
Also, our biggest fries/coke at McDonalds are of the size of the smallest in the US.
Even when I was in McDonalds in the UK people used to order much more than they do here. I believe that in America people order even more. People there don't keep that needed distance if it comes to fast foods. Some of them don't see anything wrong about eating at McDonalds way more often then they should.
Food at McDonalds is not THAT unhealthy if you eat it from time to time in fair amounts. It's HOW you eat it that is a problem. After eating 2000 calories or so in 1 meal, eating that way quite often there's no surprise that these people aren't fit.
I tend to visit McDonald or KFC about twice a month or so - more often when I'm too busy to go home to eat. I enjoy that but I don't like to eat there often yet some people who care about me think that it's too much. I also eat at other restaurants (normal restaurants, not fast food) often but I like variety.
The point is that whenever I eat at McDonalds I don't instantly order heaps of the biggest heart-stopper burgers. My casual McDonalds dinner doesn't contain that many more calories than any other meal would because I don't eat like an elephant. And a bigger amount of fat and salt from time to time won't harm me either.
The problem starts when you eat a lot of fat burgers and it's almost a habit for you. I would agree that 90% of these people probably don't look healthy at all.
The thing is that 95-97% of people who go there here look very healthy but then again we don't have any serious problems with overweight people. Fat people are pretty much a rare sight.
That's probably because our mentality is different and we don't have these guys who eat junk food everyday.
Most people wouldn't eat at fast food joints more often than once or twice a week and if they did they would eat a burger or two after which they would feel too guilty to eat more.
I don't know a single person that would base their diet on fast food restaurants. Most people I see at McDonalds are just normal, pretty random people who don't eat there very often.
Also there's a significant difference between the amount of food that people consume at McDonalds/KFC here and the amount of food that people tend to consume in these restaurants in the US.
Everyone is aware that food there is not healthy and thus here McDonalds/KFC seems to be the "last resort" for many people. Some people would rather struggle with their hunger than eat a hamburger if they already had one a day or two ago.
And other than fast foods our traditional dishes are pretty well balanced and healthy despite the fact that some of them contain relatively a lot of fat and most of them includes meat.
Also, our biggest fries/coke at McDonalds are of the size of the smallest in the US.
Even when I was in McDonalds in the UK people used to order much more than they do here. I believe that in America people order even more. People there don't keep that needed distance if it comes to fast foods. Some of them don't see anything wrong about eating at McDonalds way more often then they should.
Food at McDonalds is not THAT unhealthy if you eat it from time to time in fair amounts. It's HOW you eat it that is a problem. After eating 2000 calories or so in 1 meal, eating that way quite often there's no surprise that these people aren't fit.
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