[AlexG]

Guess it's no longer a case of evolution, but devolution.  😛

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE59D0BR20091014

“I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself.”
~ Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens (1907)

[cpbell0033944]

Either this guy is seriously being misquoted, or he's an idiot.  His argument is muddled – he shifts from commenting on Neanderthals – an entirely different species to our own, to saying that the deterioration occurred during the Industrial Revolution.  Not only that, but a 200 year timescale for the sort of changes he is suggesting is far too short to be evolutionary.  It's more likely to be environmental factors such as the fact that, if humans lift heavy weights or are having to run long distances during childhood and adolescence, they will grow-up to have heavier bones and larger muscles.

He is also speculating wildly from a few fossilised footprints and blurry old photos and making calculations from these that are simply not scientific and certainly not good enough to draw conclusuions from.  How on earth can he state that a Neanderthal woman would have had 90% of Arnold's muscle mass or that a prehistoric Aboriginal could run at 45 kph in track spikes?  It's pure guesswork. >:(

[Fett]

Firstly, you're only hearing  a press package, and I'd assume the book would go into more detail.

Secondly, when he says the woman would have 90% of Arnold's bulk, he saying, "Based on evidence I've found, a prehistoric woman was this big/strong. If she underwent the same training methods Arnold did, it's probable she would've gotten this big/strong."

The idea being that our ability to train is better than before, but our inherent ability is weaker.

I dunno. It sounded pretty interesting. I remember at the British museum, I saw an ancient sword and arm bracelet. The sword handle was tiny, but the bracelet was really big, implying they were short but huge. The idea that ancient man was inherently of a higher physical standard seems accurate.

[AlexG]

I'd say it has more to do with an increasingly sedentary lifestyle combined with the consumption of processed foods.  The over ingestion of sugar (not fat) in the diet is a leading factor in the decline of physical health in the modern world.

As for ancient man/woman having superior physical prowess, some scientists would argue that Humans enjoyed a far healthier diet as hunter-gathers as apposed to after we became agriculturists.

In addition, you'd also have to include the factor that in the prehistoric/historic past the weak and/or sickly, in general, didn't survive long enough (or in some cases in certain cultures were culled from the population – i.e. Sparta) to reproduce and pass on their genes to the next generation.

“I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself.”
~ Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens (1907)

[Tonus]

I don't know, nothing he says seems terribly far-fetched.  People have had it easier as we've developed knowledge and technological advances.  We don't have to work as hard physically all the time just to survive.  We have lots of ways to pass the time that do not require us to use much more than our hands (oh, stop smirking).  Ancient man had to be in good physical shape just to survive day to day.

I'm not offended by the comparison.  Ask that ancient man how long he lived.  Ask him about his options for dealing with diseases and infections.  Ask him if he knows anyone who lived longer than 45 years.  I think that even as recently as the late 1800s, life expectancy– even in "developed" nations– was in the mid-40s.

Sure, I won't be as impressive as ancient man when I'm in my 20s or 30s or 40s.  But the comparison at age 60 might not be so fair… he won't be breathing anymore, after all. 🙂

[ironb667]

The guys wrong. Modern Man in general might be weaker. But, we have better technology And nutrition. Most people have access to food and don't go to bed hungry. That is a huge advantage. Cavemen were not buff. They probally had a gut, cos when they had food they would eat till they could no longer. Thats why we store fat, its a process of evolution. And this devolution, ask anyone who worked in factories or any job at the 20th century. They were brutal. Don't take my word, take Uptons Sinclairs. Man has never been taller or stronger than he has now. 

[Fett]

I'm wondering if "ancient man" also applies to the tribal people of today.

[luvfemalemuscle]

We need to bring some woman back from the dawn ages!

I just read this "McAllister said a Neanderthal woman had 10 percent more muscle bulk than modern European man. Trained to capacity she would have reached 90 percent of Schwarzenegger's bulk at his peak in the 1970s.

"But because of the quirk of her physiology, with a much shorter lower arm, she would slam him to the table without a problem," he said."

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE59D0BR20091014?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=11604&sp=true

[Robert McNay]

We need to bring some woman back from the dawn ages!

I just read this "McAllister said a Neanderthal woman had 10 percent more muscle bulk than modern European man. Trained to capacity she would have reached 90 percent of Schwarzenegger's bulk at his peak in the 1970s.

"But because of the quirk of her physiology, with a much shorter lower arm, she would slam him to the table without a problem," he said."

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE59D0BR20091014?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=11604&sp=true

You can have her……

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1058538/Meet-Wilma-The-face-Neanderthal-woman-revealed-time.html

[10-4]

You can have her……

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1058538/Meet-Wilma-The-face-Neanderthal-woman-revealed-time.html

Sooooooo Sexy!  😮 😉 😛 ;D

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