Modern Man is a Wimp (article)

[bbaquiran]

Modern man a wimp says anthropologist

LONDON (Reuters) - Many prehistoric Australian aboriginals could have outrun world 100 and 200 meters record holder Usain Bolt in modern conditions.

Some Tutsi men in Rwanda exceeded the current world high jump record of 2.45 meters during initiation ceremonies in which they had to jump at least their own height to progress to manhood.

Any Neanderthal woman could have beaten former bodybuilder and current California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in an arm wrestle.

Delving into a wide range of source material McAllister finds evidence he believes proves that modern man is inferior to his predecessors in, among other fields, the basic Olympic athletics disciplines of running and jumping.

* Roman legions completed more than one-and-a-half marathons a day carrying more than half their body weight in equipment.

* Athens employed 30,000 rowers who could all exceed the achievements of modern oarsmen.

* Australian aboriginals threw a hardwood spear 110 meters or more (the current world javelin record is 98.48).

 

[Dakota rube]

The human race's downfall started as soon as we could go to the store to buy dinner.

 

[rjmaiorano]

Originally Posted by Dakota rube

The human race's downfall started as soon as we could go to the store to buy dinner.

Debatable. Opinion at least. We do have brains.

We also have equitable rights. Damn.

 

[ratboycom]

Oh anthropologists, what a kooky bunch. Technology is the downfall of man, if you look at it like this guy. I mean, why should I be able to carry half my weight in armor and a pike when I can have a big gun or an airplane that moves much faster and delivers more destruction than a legionnaire ever could. If I buy that exosuit that was designed I wouldn't have to worry about beating Schwarzenegger in an arm wrestle so much as worrying about clean tearing his arm off. Evolution within evolution, its not such a bad thing.

 

[origenesprit]

I don't believe the arm wrestle thing. Not one bit.

 

[epb]

We're a bit softer as a whole, yes, but we start a lot later at most of this stuff and we live much longer - life was nasty, brutish, and short in those days, remember. We started working people to death at puberty back then.

 

[why]

Unfounded nonsense.

The only shred of evidence is the tramp fossil records showing an ancient man much slower than Usain Bolt (and on par with a quick high school-level 100m time).

I had a laugh at the Roman legions 'fact'.

 

[RedLantern]

^ agreed. Basically the author is saying increased work always results in increased performance. That is plainly false.

 

[FLMountainMan]

The Roman Legions thing is ridiculously inaccurate. I remember when I was a guide for an Outward Bound-type of camp. Due to a series of unfortunate accidents, I wound up hiking over 36 miles in one day, in the mountains with a pack weighing about 35% of my body weight.

I was indirectly bragging about this to a few friends of mine. One was a marine, the other had been in the army as an infantryman and both just kind of snickered and said that was pretty much par for the course in the military, except the pack they had, including armament, was usually around 60-75% of their body weight. The marine told of riding a ship to the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal, disembarking, and then hiking through the jungle and over the mountains, in the summer, to the Pacific side to reboard the ship.

 

[FLMountainMan]

But it is laughable to see guys who shave their arms, frost their hair, and fake tan sit their in the mirror and flex their arms and boast about how manly they are. The same guys who have never opened the hood of their car and can't even cook a steak.

 

[Brian SD]

Originally Posted by FLMountainMan

But it is laughable to see guys who shave their arms, frost their hair, and fake tan sit their in the mirror and flex their arms and boast about how manly they are. The same guys who have never opened the hood of their car and can't even cook a steak.

Because clearly the measuring stick for "manliness" rests entirely in your ability to open car hoods and cook steaks? Please.

From a survival standpoint, the manliest men is the one who can beat the **** out of all the other ones. So this muscly hairless frosty dude is probably more manly than you are.

 

[satorstyle]

Who cares we have the iphone.

 

[grundletaint]

i blame that damn sasquatch

 

[Ahab]

Originally Posted by FLMountainMan

But it is laughable to see guys who shave their arms, frost their hair, and fake tan sit their in the mirror and flex their arms and boast about how manly they are. The same guys who have never opened the hood of their car and can't even cook a steak.
Agreed. Most men would open a grill to cook their steak yet you know how to kill two birds with one stone and have dinner ready when you get to where you are going.

I like you more and more all all the time.

 

[globetrotter]

Originally Posted by FLMountainMan

The Roman Legions thing is ridiculously inaccurate. I remember when I was a guide for an Outward Bound-type of camp. Due to a series of unfortunate accidents, I wound up hiking over 36 miles in one day, in the mountains with a pack weighing about 35% of my body weight.

I was indirectly bragging about this to a few friends of mine. One was a marine, the other had been in the army as an infantryman and both just kind of snickered and said that was pretty much par for the course in the military, except the pack they had, including armament, was usually around 60-75% of their body weight. The marine told of riding a ship to the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal, disembarking, and then hiking through the jungle and over the mountains, in the summer, to the Pacific side to reboard the ship.

+1

a soldier walking 50 miles with pack isn't too extreme, not a day to day accurance, but not too extreme. 36 miles with pack day after day is doable. but you can bet your ass that at 40, your knees pay for it.


we are wimps - look at people you know who work with their hands, say an electrician. see how strong an electricians forwarms are, compared to a desk worker who goes to the gym 2-3 times a week. people who work on a farm with no power tools, or who hunt for their food are going to be very fit and strong. if jumping vertically is what you need to do to get laid, you will learn to jump well.

pre-muskets, combatants would work for years to build up the strenght needed to operate weapons. a knight could start out as a kid working on his strength, and then spend years working with the weapons to build up skills.


we dont' have that any more. I dont' know that we should miss it - we have much longer life expectancy and better quality of life.