Eating meat; did it give us higher intelligence?

Yeah, but you'll be a lot happier . . . mmmmm . . . bacon!

If you look at the lists of those animals considered to be most intelligent, you won't find animals that are exclusively carnivores, except for dolphins.

What animals are at the top of the lists? Chimps (omnivores), dolphins (carnivores), elephants (herbivores), pigs (omnivores, but mostly herbivores). Also on the lists are crows, octopi, squirrels. I'm too lazy right now to go and look up the rest. No list contains, lions, wolves, dogs, cats, etc.

I don't see a direct connection between hunting and intelligence. Or what we eat and intelligence. When I was a kid, my mother told me that fish was brain food. I'm not a big fish eater, but I'm pretty smart.

I suspect that somewhere are scientific reasons for intelligence, but I don't know that they're connected to food or hunting.

Excellent examples to back your theories, Roberta.

Elephants are intelligent, nurturing, highly socialised creatures, but they also must forage constantly, and consume massive quantities of fodder, to sustain their existence.



Yeah, as has been suggested, to conceptualise the hunt, formulate a strategy, fabricate the weapons or tools required, all had to happen before the regular consumption of red meat began. It's not like our alimentary tract could cope with "road kill". It had to be fresh.

I say I like meat.

I don't think human consumption of meat is anymore "murder" than a big cat's.

I do think that, in general, the way we treat livestock is horrible, but that is slowly but surely changing.

There are, as you've noted, a number of theories that attribute human consumption of meat with our intelligence. It makes sense to me but I couldn't possibly confirm or refute it. Not my field.

That there are intelligent herbivores (ie elephants) doesn't refute the theory because as smart as they may be they're nowhere near humans.

Carnivorous but dumb tigers don't disprove anything, either. When you are that well adapted as predators, you simply don't need a lot of smarts.

Agreed. Eating meat may have helped lead to our level of intelligence, but it can't be the only reason.

The development of human intelligence was a "perfect storm" of circumstances. The binocular vision which was necessary for our tree dwelling ancestors required more brain processing power which was utilized later in our development. Our opposable thumb which enabled us to manipulate smaller objects, also required more brain power. Our living in social groups required us to compete on more than one level, and to cooperate also required more brain power. The diet that contained more protein and fat supported these advanced functions. The desire for the nutrient-dense meat encouraged the creativity to get more. Like a vicious cycle our intelligence grew and the more it grew the more we were able to influence it's growth.

Getting it certainly did...

I once, long long ago, knew the Krebs Cycle by heart..

Now I have to go look it up..

Since the brin sucks up about 20% of the nutrients and is a big feeder on B vitamins and TYROSINE, the available nutrients in meat (especially after its cooked a bit), are "brain food " really.

I recall that from biochem. Look it up, thats what Im alwys doing ven about mineralization and solid solution optical chem. Too much **** to remember. I like saying
Hey google" to my phone

smiles..

I don't eat meat. But in spite of this, my chess game hasn't suffered.

I just noticed your signature.

Do you mean to say pro wrestling is not legit?

The evolution of the brain is an extremely complex subject. Those with larger brains might have had an advantage in obtaining the meat, therefore better nutrition and more frequent reproduction. It's not like we were equipped with an anatomy favoring the hunt like a cat or wolf. So natural selection favored those with larger brains. That would be one factor.

Yes, and I'm reasonably sure our obvious physical weakness encouraged the development of weapons. If it hadn't, I doubt we would be here to have the discussion.

The one thing that I do notice, when consuming a raw vegan (only) diet, is that much less sleep is required. And definitely awaken more energetically.

Meat-heavy meals certainly require more energy to digest, and lack the fluid content of raw vegetables, and fresh fruits.

In the context of our ancestors, and the survival of the fittest, would it be of benefit to people to sleep less, and sleep more lightly?

Interesting point.

However I am more interested in how you possibly can endure a raw vegan diet.

At this point, I'm still an omnivore.

It's my partner who is going with the raw vegan diet.

I've been working from home for a while, building our kitchen, so I'm happy to eat the same while home.

Did eat lamb roast on buns with gravy Friday night, to watch the test match between Australia and New Zealand.

But I must say, that her apple pie and cashew cream is absolutely delish.

Oh, and her frozen watermelon slushies are very good too.

Seems like dates are often used for sweetening, but no need with watermelon.

Maybe so, but our distant ancestors were hardly out there, gathering wild tofu. Lots of other things in the vegan diet they didn't have access to.