quadrumanous adj. Having four feet with opposable
first digits, as primates other than man.
It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of
the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing
with a box of matches on a petrol dump.
-- David Ormsby Gore
 There
is no independent test of fitness. The "great tautology" of evolution
derives from this elementary fact of -- well, it's a fact of life.
Traits which confer fitness are known by their presence in creatures that
are fit (see survival value). What is
is.
Opposable first digits -- now, there is an attribute
that affords fitness. Look no further than just beyond your own wrists.
There are 5 billion of us now, 10 billion opposable first digits.
That's fitness for you. No question about that.
Still, we only have two each. Other primates have
four. If opposable first digits are so advantageous, why did our
ancestors lose half of them on the way to becoming us? Take off your
shoes and look at what's left. Not a pretty sight, is it.
If humans were quadrumanous, we might have...
-
made tools,
-
harnessed fire,
-
channeled water,
-
planted fields,
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domesticated animals,
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conceived writing,
-
invented the loom,
-
perfected the movable type press,
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organized governments,
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printed money,
-
built bicycles,
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plundered the forests,
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burnt petroleum,
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developed plastics,
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surmounted pain,
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created television,
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overcome disease,
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borrowed money,
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designed structures,
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laid highways,
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managed factories,
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spent money,
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honked up the atmosphere,
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walked in space, and
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deployed nuclear weapons
...twice as fast.
Or still be swinging in trees.
In retrospect, then, for conquering planets, two opposable
first digits per person is enough.
When it comes to intelligence, though -- you can never
get enough of that. Smarter is always fitter. More intelligence
means more fitness. No question about that. |