Humans

limetom · December 09, 2008, 02:01:09 PM

Because this got thread-sized:

Quote from: limetomA human with 20/20 vision can see details as small as one minute of arc.

To put that into perspective, the Sun and the full Moon are 30 minutes of arc across. That's half a degree. Or the width of your little finger at arm's length.

Also, human vision several thousand years ago averaged 20/16 to 20/12. Excessive reading, and the fact that we no longer operate as endurance predators, has reduced this over the last couple of centuries.

That's because things used to try to eat us, but they were sprinters. The humans who outran them survived.[/quote]I believe limetom actually said human vision is quite good (he was just saying that it was even better in the past). I also know for a fact that it is extremely good. Our vision has to be good though as all our other senses are mediocre at best. We are creatures based very heavily on sight. [/quote]We're designed as predators, and predators typically rely heavily on at least one of the three "distance" senses. I wouldn't be surprised if either our hearing and/or smell used to be better, too.[/quote]I think the latter especially is probably due in part ot the same things limetom cited in his explanation of why our eyesight is typically not as good as it used to be. Although, actually I figure there has probably always been a degree of both, and those with poorer eyesight were the ones that got picked off before. Since we are not threatened by predators now, and have done so much with medicine, those with eye disorders have survived where they would not have in the past.

Sorry, that was @ Llum.[/quote]@Nomadic: our eye's aren't really spaced /that/ far apart, really. On a round(ish) head, eyes can only be spaced so far apart before they start to be at significantly different angles to each other.

Notice that predators-- canines, felines, raptors, etc-- typically have their eyes at the front of their head (good depth perception, to focus on a 'target'), where as prey animals-- rabbits, squirrels, deer, etc-- typically have their eyes further out to the sides (good field of vision, to notice danger in a wider area).[/quote]That's because we can invent boats, knives, rope and pretty much anything else, which makes us better than the specialized animals.[/quote]

Nomadic · December 09, 2008, 02:09:05 PM

Ignore the bit about spaced eyesight. I can't remember what that was about. I have something I call super-dyslexia (only cause I don't know what it actually is). I confuse meanings, words, phrases, ideas and other things from time to time. An example being that I might say "that tree is wide" when what I meant was "the area that tree moves through blowing back and forth in the wind is large". And then of course when I try to go back and correct myself I have trouble remembering what I actually meant.

Elemental_Elf · December 09, 2008, 02:15:21 PM

Math! Poetry! Have carnal relations for longer than a few seconds! :P

Humans only real asset is their brain. Their smart which allows them to copy and improve on any design they see in nature.

Beyond that... For a bi-pedal creature, we can run fairly fast!

SDragon · December 09, 2008, 02:16:32 PM

I don't know if it counts as something we can actually do, but as far as survival traits go, we're omnivores. If the supply of prey animals dwindles in a certain area, we can get by on edible plants; wolves can't. If the supply of edible plants dwindles in a certain area, we can get by on meat; rabbits can't. If I'm not mistaken (I could be), we're even apex omnivores, which means we don't have to worry as much about natural defense mechanisms. An apex omnivore is the most spoiled creature on the food chain.

Edit-- I second EE's third example of what we can do. That's damned impressive, all things considered.

Steerpike · December 09, 2008, 02:16:39 PM

With a very few notable exceptions (whales, a few reptiles, certain molluscs, and biologically immortal creatures like hydra) we're one of the most long-lived animals out there. Compared to the vast majority of creatures we're ridiculously long-lived.

Nomadic · December 09, 2008, 02:21:00 PM

Here are a few I can think of:
- Human eyesight as was mentioned is quite highly developed. The positioning of our eyes and their link with our brain gives us quite a few interesting abilities. For one our eye positioning gives good depth perception coupled with a decent sized field of vision. Furthermore the design of the eye makes us sensitive to far more colors in our visible spectrum than almost any other creature. The biggest things though are due to our brain. The vision part of our brain is based around making up for what we don't see and for combining it with what we do. As we mature visually our brain records more and more information which it then uses to fill in gaps (this is why visual illusions work). You can actually see things without light from them hitting your eye because of this.
- Human musculature. We may not be elephants or the like but we still have a muscle and skeletal system based off apes. The ape body build is very good in terms of raw power. We may not have quite the strength of say a chimpanzee or a gorilla but it isn't all gone. In fact our brain has to limit us to only using a fraction of our strength as using our full strength could tear our muscles tendons and seriously injure us. This is why we see incredible feats of strength where a person picks up a car or a fallen steel beam or something else in a danger situation. The fight or flight response in us temporarily disables the brains regulators that prevent us from using our full strength.

Seraph · December 09, 2008, 02:36:52 PM

Didn't see this was here before I put it in the Tavern:

Well, I think the right-brain influence is very important for what makes humans different from other animals--the creativity. There are a lot of animals that can problem solve, but few if any that can do it as well as we can. We are very creative at coming up with ways to overcome a challenge, or to circumvent one (as any DM will tell you of his players' ability to destroy his plans). It is this creativity that has allowed us to think abstractly enough about things to imagine how to create tools, and increasingly complex tools, and to come up with complex social orders and ways of communication and interaction, speech, song, gesture, eye-contact, even silence as ways to get a message across.

Llum · December 09, 2008, 02:38:10 PM

Humans are one of the longest lived species compared to our size. We beat whales in this category. Like Steerpike said, certain molluscs, the hydra, some reptiles (mostly turtles and the like) beat us on this.

Birds however beat us hands down, they live extraordinarily long for their size. Birds also have a superior system for cleaning our cellular waste from our bodies, with their high metabolisms its seems like they should suffer from cancer and related illnesses even more then humans. However cancer is nearly unheard of in birds, they can clean all kinds of free radicals and crap extremely well.

Elemental_Elf · December 09, 2008, 02:41:05 PM

Quote from: LlumBirds however beat us hands down, they live extraordinarily long for their size. Birds also have a superior system for cleaning our cellular waste from our bodies, with their high metabolisms its seems like they should suffer from cancer and related illnesses even more then humans. However cancer is nearly unheard of in birds, they can clean all kinds of free radicals and crap extremely well.

The Perks of being related to Dinosaurs!

Stargate525 · December 09, 2008, 02:53:12 PM

If I recall correctly, our senses are, in general, tremendously well attuned, considering how good the other ones are.

sparkletwist · December 09, 2008, 03:26:27 PM

To me, the big advancement that propelled the human "predator" to the top of the food chain was the realization you could sharpen a stick, throw it, and kill your prey at distance. No other animal hunts like this. It is immensely powerful, and keeps you safe from most of their defenses. Things like keen vision and good depth perception are likely traits that evolved in support of this "stick throwing hunter" ability.

limetom · December 09, 2008, 03:44:22 PM

You all fail.

Human's best asset is language.

And I'm totally not biased as a linguist or anything...

Epic Meepo · December 09, 2008, 04:00:31 PM

Quote from: Llum...some reptiles (mostly turtles and the like) beat us on this.

Yet again demonstrating the superiority of turtles.

To add a few things:

-The most obvious one is that humans are the only existing species of bipeds. No other animal on currently existing on earth can balance on two limbs for extended periods of time.

-As far as we know, humans are the only existing species capable of thinking in symbols in addition to emotions and pictures. Many other animals have crude forms of language, but only humans can actually think in words. We're also the only species capable of asking, "Why?"

-On a related note, humans are the only existing animal that can experience emotional reactions to entirely abstract thoughts. Other animals can experience emotions related to food and companionship, but only humans can experience emotions upon, say, solving a math problem.

(I say "existing animal" instead of just "animal" because in the past, there may have been as many as a half-dozen coexisting hominid species, any one of which may have matched or come close to matching human capabilities. So its entirely possible that humans weren't always unique on planet Earth.)

Elemental_Elf · December 09, 2008, 04:02:55 PM

I think Language is the best asset we have. Stick enough monkeys in a room and they'll invent Shakespeare. However, if those monkeys can't speak to one another, they're just a bunch of monkeys in a room.

Llum · December 09, 2008, 04:07:38 PM

Quote from: Elemental_ElfStick enough monkeys in a room and they'll invent Shakespeare.

I believe the internet really puts a hole in this comment.

Just want to note that Birds are bipeds (who descended from Theropods). Crazy how the dominant species tends to stand on 2 feet eh?

The Campaign Builder's Guild

News:

Humans

limetom

Nomadic

Elemental_Elf

SDragon

Steerpike

Nomadic

Seraph

Llum

Elemental_Elf

Stargate525

sparkletwist

limetom

Epic Meepo

Elemental_Elf

Llum