"(A being with multiple [ocular nerve] pathways, has a higher likelihood of surviving, than a being with just one)
right...well wings would be a survival characteristics for human who lived in africa near lions -- yet we don't have any. Can you explain to me the process of how this might accidentally evolve one dumb genetic mistake at a time?
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The ability to climb trees and throw things were a better and more realistic trait for our ancestors as far as self defense goes. As their brains evolved even those became less necessary for surivival as you had the ability to make weapons, create fire, make clothes so you could simply pack up and walk somewhere that wasn't filled with predators, and so on. Today Humans don't need evolution to protect them from Lions. We have cars, homes, and guns to protect us. Even as far back as Ancient Rome and Ancient Egypt you had man hunting/capturing Lions with ease. Therefore Lion attacks have been very rare for many thousands of years. The only way we would need to develop a natural defense against them is if we were in constant threat from them on a regular basis and it wouldn't be something so significant as the appearance of wings one day.
We got the next best thing, guns that can kill a lion from a mile away. Who needs wings anyway (sure, it'd be fun, but not necessary)? And to escape those lions in the old days we invented somethign else. It's called treeclimbing.
Matilde
That'd be cool.
Welcome to The Evolution Drive-Thru, how may I help you?
"Yeah, why don't you give me, let's see, the wings, an extra set of legs, ummm, 8-eyes, night-vision, gills, uh, give me the horse-cock and balls; supersize them, hidden flippers, tusks and some kind of camoflage, what kinds of camo do you have? Alright, give me the molting-seasonal fur. That's should do it. Oh! And poison fangs. That should be everything."
Thank you, sir, please drive forward.
We'd have to decrease in size considerably first - the volumetric mass/wing area ratio just wont work otherwise, and to do that you'd probably have to accept a decrease in brain size and physical strength in other areas. Since we're the dominant species on the planet and not birds or bats, I'd say we got the best deal. In other words it would appear that in evolutionary terms, brain size and physical strength trump wings.
But, supersport, we have a far superior brain which, in spite of our physical weaknesses, has put us in the dominant position. And it was with this brain that we made our own wings. Pretty clever of the hominids!
Supersport, I suggest you immediately try growing some wings. In fact, try it right now. Go jump off a cliff. Either you'll sprout wings immediately in order to survive (survival of fittest right?) or God will save you and either give you wings or send down an angel to save you.
Seriously, if some magic man made living creatures, you'd think he'd stick more features on them, rather than the frequently bare minimum features arranged all cockamamie. That, or the creator guy is really incompetent.
Supersport is the mental midget that proves the rule. While the rest of us intelligent, social animals put our heads together and come up with a plan, he says, "I won't have anything to do with your Satanic plot!" and becomes the lion's dinner, removing himself from the gene pool and becoming the very first Darwin award on the prehistoric Serengeti.
Wouldn't be all that hard, Supersport... start with that floppy skin sometimes people develop on the bottom of their arms as they age and have it show up earlier and earlier, with some kind of selection pressure for it to do so over generations...
Aw, fuck it. Who cares, it's supersport.
Actually, wings, without the necessary adaptations that come with them would be useless to the point of detrimental to humans (either they would relpace our arms, disallowing our use of tools, which IS one of the reasons we did survive, or in the case of angel wings, sprouting from our backs, since wings don't just magically enable flight, would be useless limbs that would hinder our mobility greatly. We might be able to whack things with them, but that's it.) And the necessary conditions for flight (hollow bones, etc.) would render us even more frail and vulnerable, so the chances of that happening are, to be generous, unlikely.
Bigger brains and opposable thumbs are the combination which let us do far, far more than wings alone ever could.
The practice has dropped off in the last few decades, but Maasai men used to earn their status by killing a lion, armed with nothing but a single spear and a buffalo-hide shield. Personally I'd want an AK47 and a grenade launcher before I went out there and tried that.
We lack wings needed to escape from lions because figuring out how to sharpen a stick and throw it accurately is a much more expedient evolutionary step. Wings take time, time we wouldn't have had, getting eaten by lions and all. But pointy sticks? Shit, those are just lying around.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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