Think of all the wonderful and simply amazing feats humans have accomplished in merely the past 250 years. We have created vaccines for previously incurable diseases, we have built buildings that go high into the sky, we have walked on the moon and many, many more amazing feats. However, all of these accomplishments could’ve never been possible without help from our ancestors. Despite all the great moments of human civilization, there are many reasons why humans shouldn’t be here. We are not the biggest, we are certainly not the strongest, and there is nothing special from a human’s appearance that would think we could survive very long on this hostile planet. However, there are a few aspects that are very important to our survival throughout these roughly 200,000 years we’ve been in existence.

First, and arguably the most important in my opinion, is our capacity for complex thought. However, in order to reach this level of thought, we needed to start somewhere… right? Well this very well could have been the start, “Chimpanzees lead quite interesting lives. They build nests, form alliances with other members of their troop and use simple tools—for example, sticks to fish for termites and stones to open nuts.”(New Thinking) Even though chimps and humans lead very different lives today, the root of both of these species’ primal instincts aren’t dissimilar at all. Like I mentioned earlier, “Other animals may be stronger, faster, and more resistant but our species has the highest capacity that evolution could develop: the capacity to observe data, think about it and determine what to do with it.”(Rebirth of Reason) Despite the fact that observing data and determining its meaning seems logical, it something that takes thousands and thousands of years to develop. Moreover, “Knowledge is not and cannot be obtained in any easy way. It requires a constant effort, a never-ending study and the permanent updating of the knowledge, the data and the informations throughout life.”(Rebirth of Reason) Like many of us know from being in education for most of our young lives, knowledge is not something that comes easy. In order to learn something, we must first learn how to think critically, much like Andrew asks us to do for class. Before humans could do anything of meaning on Earth, they first needed to learn how to think critically about the situations they were in. They had to analyze the given information and make informed decisions based on that data. Even though there is certainly still room to grow for human thought(see this if your not sure what I mean), the strides we have made as a civilization is unparalleled.

Along with our rare capacity to have complex thought, humans are also known to be the best long-distance runners out of all species. For example, “hairless, clawless, and largely weaponless, ancient humans used the unlikely combination of sweatiness and relentlessness to gain the upper hand over their faster, stronger, generally more dangerous animal prey…”(Harvard Gazette) Furthermore, many animals known to be superior ‘runners’ to humans(i.e cheetahs and wildebeest) are known for their speed, not endurance. To survive, many humans had to outrun their predators by being, as David Lieberman puts it, ‘relentless.’ Unlike Penn State’s basketball team(who’s slogan last year was ‘relentless’) early humans were actually very relentless in making sure that they were not caught by animals that were bigger and stronger than them. The explanation behind why humans are superior distance runners to any other species is as follows; “While animals get rid of excess heat by panting, they can’t pant when they gallop, Lieberman said. That means that to run a prey animal into the ground, ancient humans didn’t have to run further than the animal could trot and didn’t have to run faster than the animal could gallop. All they had to do is to run faster, for longer periods of time, than the slowest speed at which the animal started to gallop.”(Harvard Gazette) Even though today running is a daily activity for some people, including myself, I never quite realized that without the gift of distance running, there is a likely chance that we would not be alive today. Lastly, humans were known to not only run away from predators. They were also known to hunt by outworking and tiring out their prey. The gift of distance

Humans were gifted with many skills that separate than from animals. However, the most vital in my opinion is endurance to run for miles and miles without tiring and the ability to think in complex terms, while also being able to plan for the future. Here is a picture that further explains the key differences between humans and animals.

Humans vs. Animals Source: Daily InfoGraphic

Extra: If you made it this far I’m impressed and I have a treat for you. When it comes to human beings, I am an optimist and believe that humans naturally do good. If you don’t believe, here is a article that will maybe change your mind(Buzzfeed). Enjoy!