Francia, Pamela (2008). On "Food for Thought"

I

"You are what you eat." So goes the popular saying, but little known to most people, there is actually a solid basis and grounds for that cliche. Modern humankind has been evolutionarily determined mainly with the changes of food availability over time, complemented with the occurrences of bipedalism, or the ability to walk on two legs, nd the enlargement of the human brain. Among these three parameters, however, what proved to be the most crucial for the resulting of humankind as we know it now?

II

William R. Leonard, in his article Food For Thought written in 2002 and published in Evolution: A Scientific American Reader (2006), gives proof that while food supply was a central issue in the evolution of the modern human, it was actually the occurrence of bipedalism that was the most crucial in the process of evolution for the modern human.

III

Leonard describes bipedalism as an effective feeding posture for early humans, an effective way to regulate body temperature, and a less energetically expensive way of traveling, as opposed to the energy-inefficient quadrupedalism (four-legged motion), under the consideration that the two costs of determining the energy consumption of the animal were 1) its weight, and 2) its traveling rate.

Being effective in undertaking activities, bipedalism assured humans of getting more done with less energy and in less time, particularly in acquiring more food in a more eeffective way. This is apparent in the differences in day range of the bipedal human and quadrupedal ape, wherein their separate environments determined the flow of natural selection in their species. In relation to brain activity, bipedalism guaranteed richer foods for the expanding brains of humans.

Lastly, because the upright structure of bipedalism regulated body temperature, the heat that impeded the expansion of the brain was eliminated, to be replaced by a cool blood flow that allowed the brain the growth in underwent to result in the mind as we know it now.

IV

Contrary to the position that bipedalism is the most important parameter defining the modern human race, it can be pointed out that the superiority of humans over the other biological creatures is defined by the human's capacity for thinking and more brain activity. Keeping in mind that the brain is powered by food, it is therefore implied that a larger brain size, supported by the improving nutrient intake from increaingly richer food over time, is more definitive than the ability to move around on two legs.

However, one argument stamps this notion down: acquisition of food and the brain size are rooted in the occurrence of bipedalism. The ability to move around on two legs sped up the collection of food and, thus, enabled man's ancestors to go further in search of food, which, along with the regulation of body temperature bipedalism provided, led to the brain size and thinking activity of modern man.

V

Bipedalism can truly be considered as the most pivotal of all these occurrences, paving the way for further advancement in human morphology to what it is today.

Reference:
1. Leonard, W.R. (2002). Food for thought. In Evolution: A Scientific American Reader, 2006, 310-321.

(Pamela Francia is a student at the University of Asia and the Pacific, Pasig, Philippines. schizoavoidant@yahoo.com.ph)