Watch us evolve... It won't take that long...

We can see in every generation our roots. Just as we can see embryonic stages reticent of our special ancestors. Children and teens show us the way.

We were pack hunters not herd animals. There were alphas. Children played. Adolescents competed with one another. The strong mated as they chose, the weak had limited options. But, we were different. Our strength could be varied. We began devising different ways to hunt. The individual that could throw a rock the furthest may not have been the individual that could throw with the most accuracy. However, simple competitions could resolve rank.

And then we shifted. The pack became the tribe. A tribe generally has 2 leaders. Although a chief may make the ultimate decision, most seek the advice of a wise woman or shaman. Roles start being assigned. Those roles still have a hierarchy. The tribe generally prefers the best hunter to the best gatherer. However, as hunting moves from innate ability or talent to skill, it becomes an occupation. Individuals arise that take on tasks for the whole tribe. Weapon quality varies by the maker and the tribe benefits from well equipped hunters.

And so professions arose. Humans stopped moving. Farming and raising of livestock allow us to settle. The tribe becomes a village. A village may have one leader, but generally it does not. Elders are respected for their knowledge and so are cared for. Trades form. Metalworking, masonry, carpentry; these can only be sustained while food is plentiful. Commerce must begin. It becomes nearly impossible to designate an alpha. The blacksmith's forge allows the plow. The plow allows the harvest. The harvest allows the blacksmith to eat. Just as evolution always had, we filled niches. Now, those niches were among ourselves. A new ecosystem built on top of the existing one composed entirely of 1 species.

However, no resource is unlimited and the need to hunt has been replaced with the need to protect. It is easier to take than to grow and so another niche arises. Super predators arose: pillagers. The need for alphas returned. However, pillaging is not sustainable. The enemy will only be at the gates every once in a while. The professional soldier is not necessary at first. The blacksmith makes weapons, a basket weaver turns fletcher, a carpenter becomes a bowyer. The fighters are often praised and success is often rewarded just as it had been in the pack, but a town guard is not promoted to high ruler. The pillagers are not always defeated. From time to time the take control and demand tribute. However, a dictator can not be sustained by a village, that requires a town or city.

For better or worse, we continued to specialize.

Because my mind drifts...

Strangely enough, I found myself thinking of evolution today. I was biting in to an apple and thought about the design. Actually built to fall to the ground when ripe. A complicated process of germination requiring several levels.

Some of the insane will simply indicate that this is indicative of a designer. They have never studied random number patterns. What I thought is that these are new. The forests of the Jurassic had no apples. There weren't grasses either. The very plants that allowed the rise of mammals came along with us. They and we adapted together. Could a human survive on ferns and meat? Possibly. But we would not thrive. Man do not cultivate plants in jungles. 65 million years ago, a freak accident changed the game. The plants and animals that could hibernate survived. Although nature would again dance in the sun, it hid in the cave and burrow first.

So, the next time you imagine walking with dinosaurs, think of the jungles of our current world. Imagine the prisons the French built that didn't require walls.... just to be surrounded by jungle. Think of the things that do live there now.... the snakes and bugs.... Everything was far bigger, but the end result is the same. We are not designed for it. We would be the only thing sweating. We could be tracked for miles and although we could find sustenance, it would be meager.

Apples exist because mammals exist and vice versa. The bird large enough to eat an apple or spread the seeds would be a raptor. If a niche arose would something fill it... yes. However, that assumes that apple trees stay around that long and that something else doesn't arise to replace them.

We generally assume that plant life is static and animals adapt to it. We sometimes forget that flowers may have existed without bees, but they wouldn't thrive. They would be one of those rare accidents that have made our planet what it is. The wind would spread pollen as would contact with other animals, but neither of these would be all that effective. And flowering plants are not very resilient. By definition, an ecosystem is interdependent. The bees need the flowers and vice versa. Would there be similar things replace them? Maybe. The niches do seem to produce similar forms. However, assuming a niche will always be there is a mistake. There is nothing constant. There are no rules. We are just one species on one planet. We change the world every day.

And it changes us.