Scientific Duh
Aug. 16th, 2009 12:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hafoc
Every so often I hear an announcement of some research results that make me shake my head. Because the results are so blindingly obvious. Somebody had to actually sit down and THINK about this? Why?
For example, a recent article announcing that insurance companies are considering dropping their discounts on hybrid cars because they've discovered people with hybrids tend to drive more miles than normal. OK, let's think about that. A car that gets superior fuel economy appeals most to people who drive a lot of miles. Geez, how could anybody possibly see THAT coming?
The latest scientific DUH I heard concerns why humans are the only species that has a prolonged adolescence-- why we're the only species with teenagers, if you will. For other species adolescence is just something they grow through as quickly as possible, and it's done in a season. For us it takes years, and we're the only species for which it takes years.
The Brilliant Hypothesis is that this is because a reading, writing, tool-making and using critter with the most elaborate civilization and social structure on the planet needs more time to learn stuff before going out on their own than, say, a kitten does.
DUH. That's been obvious to me since I was about twelve years old myself. Along with another human peculiarity, our strangely long lifespans. Every other mammal lives for pretty much the same number of heartbeats, a measure strongly related to the animal's size. Elephants and whales live a long time, mice and voles not, because the larger animal's heart beats so much more slowly; but the total number of heartbeats is about the same in each case.
Except for humans. The number of heartbeats for the average human comes out to about three times that of any other mammal. And as far as documented specimens go, humans, at a maximum lifespan of about 115 years, are the mammals with the longest known lifespans of all.
Of course a lot of that has to do with medical care and documentation, but not all of it.
Why do we old farts stay around so long to annoy the young generation? Because that's our JOB. The two or three elders who managed to survive a normal lifetime of hunting or farming, in the old days, stayed home around the campfire to watch over the youngsters and to instruct them in History and Lore. The youngsters had to stay young longer to be able to learn those lessons, and the oldsters had to stay alive long enough to teach them. So we have youngsters and oldsters when no other species does. It's obvious. DUH.
I am tempted now to go for the cheap laugh and conclude by saying "So you young whippersnappers, when I'm talking, shut the hell up and LISTEN! That's why you're there!" But I can't quite do that, since the chance to tell the occasional story turns out to be the only reason why I'm still alive at all. For which I am profoundly grateful.
For example, a recent article announcing that insurance companies are considering dropping their discounts on hybrid cars because they've discovered people with hybrids tend to drive more miles than normal. OK, let's think about that. A car that gets superior fuel economy appeals most to people who drive a lot of miles. Geez, how could anybody possibly see THAT coming?
The latest scientific DUH I heard concerns why humans are the only species that has a prolonged adolescence-- why we're the only species with teenagers, if you will. For other species adolescence is just something they grow through as quickly as possible, and it's done in a season. For us it takes years, and we're the only species for which it takes years.
The Brilliant Hypothesis is that this is because a reading, writing, tool-making and using critter with the most elaborate civilization and social structure on the planet needs more time to learn stuff before going out on their own than, say, a kitten does.
DUH. That's been obvious to me since I was about twelve years old myself. Along with another human peculiarity, our strangely long lifespans. Every other mammal lives for pretty much the same number of heartbeats, a measure strongly related to the animal's size. Elephants and whales live a long time, mice and voles not, because the larger animal's heart beats so much more slowly; but the total number of heartbeats is about the same in each case.
Except for humans. The number of heartbeats for the average human comes out to about three times that of any other mammal. And as far as documented specimens go, humans, at a maximum lifespan of about 115 years, are the mammals with the longest known lifespans of all.
Of course a lot of that has to do with medical care and documentation, but not all of it.
Why do we old farts stay around so long to annoy the young generation? Because that's our JOB. The two or three elders who managed to survive a normal lifetime of hunting or farming, in the old days, stayed home around the campfire to watch over the youngsters and to instruct them in History and Lore. The youngsters had to stay young longer to be able to learn those lessons, and the oldsters had to stay alive long enough to teach them. So we have youngsters and oldsters when no other species does. It's obvious. DUH.
I am tempted now to go for the cheap laugh and conclude by saying "So you young whippersnappers, when I'm talking, shut the hell up and LISTEN! That's why you're there!" But I can't quite do that, since the chance to tell the occasional story turns out to be the only reason why I'm still alive at all. For which I am profoundly grateful.
