Maybe Darwin Was Onto Something!
Yes, I am grinning.
But let’s not forget psychology’s premier Law of Effect: Which states that consequences control behavior.
Actually, the Law of Effect can influence more that just behavior. Of course it is intimately involved in determining an individual’s behavior. But it is also a major force in shaping species’ biological make-up and behavior patterns, as well as the evolution of human cultures.
Please go to my upper right-side search box on this page for a more detailed explanation of the wide-ranging influences of the Law of Effect. Type “Consequences Control” in the box and press enter.
While scientists look for the “missing link”, here is an excellent example of how the environment can shape bipedal behavior in a biologically exceptional primate.
Gorilla’s can, but normally do not walk on two feet very much.
Perhaps the big guy in the video below, who primarily walks on two feet, is an approximation of one of our great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandpas!
By-the-way, he is not as dumb as some might think he looks.
O.K. now, please do not be offended. Maybe you won’t buy-into my line of analysis. But just remember: “The Lord works in mysterious ways.”
The video and article below could suggest that a specie, normally running around on all fours, might produce a few members with a unique physiology (perhaps a very rare helpful genetic mutation), yielding somewhat differently configured brains and/or bodies that facilitate comfortably efficient bipedal movement.
The next step would be for these creatures to discover that they can gather more food, run, intimidate, fight, and attract members of the opposite sex; or maybe care for their babies more effectively on two feet, than can others in their clan stuck walking primarily on four feet.
He or she would not understand that by walking on two feet their hands would tend to be cleaner, thus making them less prone to infections than others in their tribe. The discovery of germ theory would come much later in the evolution of an associated much smarter (though often self-defeating) lineage of self-named “homosapiens”.
By assembling the pieces of this interesting puzzle, we construct an individual who will be better fed, bigger, stronger, more intimidating, healthier and perhaps more attractive to the opposite sex.
Presumably, therefore they will be able to make more babies and more successfully pass this helpful mutation on to future generations than their competitors still hopping around on all fours.
http://www.phillyvoice.com/philadelphia-zoo-gorilla-prefers-walk-around-human/
V. Thomas Mawhinney, Ph.D., 3/18/18
Cultural Survival Skills 