Shoes?

[JamesATyler]

Why is that human beings don’t have very tough skin on the bottoms of our feet like many animals. From an evolutionary perspective it seems like we would have been going barefoot for 1000’s of years (hundred’s of thousands of years?) before we learned to make shoes. I read that they think the shoe was invented between 26,000 and 40,000 years ago. I’m assuming our skin was very tough down there around that time. Now, our feet padding is very thin and easily damaged. Is this an example of quick evolution? Surely not everyone was wearing shoes all the time. If the feet were very tough, I would bet that most people wouldn’t even wear shoes most of the time. If my feet were tough I wouldn’t wear shoes unless I were going somewhere public probably, and then only if it were a societal norm.

Random thought.

 

[Della]

Many peoples in the world go without shoes and have very well padded feet as a result. Anyone who has been brought up sans shoes will develop thick soles. Shoes/sandals just make feet a little more comfortable, that’s all, especially in climates that are hard on feet. You have to remember that mankind started in areas that were grassy and lush with vegetation. We moved to less hospitable habitats as we grew in numbers, adapting ourselves to new climates and conditions. And the Earth itself changed climates, necessitating humans adapting different types of clothing and footwear. For instance, the Sahara Desert was once a rain forest. Hot sand replaced grasses and ferns. Shoes/sandals no doubt made it easier to bear the heat. Human beings have the God given capacity to adapt to new environments, which is why we have been able to inhabit every part of the world.

 

[andyklein]

Living organisms must adapt to their outside environments in order to survive. Mankind is super special in this regard because of its extremely high intellect, its ability to communicate, and the thumb.

Not sure how this specifically addresses your thread, but its my bro science thought of the day.

 

[Allegra]

If you didn’t wear shoes, your feet would get hard and callosed.

 

[GEddie]

Genetically, the skin of our footsoles is already the thickest skin on our bodies (palms of the hands, and fingertips are next).

The feet skin would be thicker still if we lived life barefoot, as many people do. But most human beings do not live where this makes sense. We are not evolved for northern climates (Europe, NA) and cold extremities are a disadvantage to body’s wellbeing.

In the absence of constant abrasion of the feet skin against the ground, the body does not thicken the skin.

ICXC NIKA.

 

[mikekle]

Ive talked about the larger issue of why humans dont seem to be born with any kind natural defense mechanisms or suited to live in different parts of nature, as every other animal is born with. For instance, if a man was to go out into the wilderness with no clothes, shoes, or gear, he would die fairly quickly, either from exposure, or not being able to find food, or attacked by another predator, man could not defend himself against a bear, shark, wolf, etc very well, we have NO natural defense,other than to kick and punch, yet every other animal has some kind of defense for themselves, that they are born with.

man would also freeze to death or die from overheating, so we are not naturally suited to any kind of exposure, and again, animals are born with coats and skins that work for their particular regions they live. animals that live in the arctic have more body fat to keep them warm, but no human that is born in very cold regions are born any different from another human living in warm regions…this is strange to me, it seems man is the only being that is NOT suited to ANY region and must rely 100% on materialistic means to even survive.

I had a friend that also liked to point out that humans are the only being on earth, that does get hungry when looking at a cow, chickens, pigs, etc. yet we eat them left and right, and any other meat eating predator starts licking its lips when it sees a cow, sheep, pig, etc. it is strange we are different in this regard too. we are just very different from every other animal on this planet!! strange we were created this way.

 

[JamesATyler]

Yeah it is interesting that all human beings are alike and there is no variant on our species.

Well don’t they say we stayed in a particular region for a long time and then suddenly went out and started expanding rapidly across the earth. Maybe we expanded so quickly that we didn’t have time to evolve a fur coat so we just made one.

Maybe there is a relationship between intelligence level and the degree to which an animal adapts to the environment vs adapting the environment to itself. The latter being what we humans do now. Physically we probably won’t ever change much because we always adapt the environment to our needs. Unless something major happens that alters the environment more than we can accommodate ourselves for.

Perhaps lower lifeforms are more likely to evolve than higher lifeforms because of this. We are even learning to control our diet in a way that meets the needs of the body the best. So our diet will probably not change. (No chance that our descendants can survive on bark for instance)

Also, since evolution depends greatly on survival of the most likely to reproduce, with the invention of the internet and mass communication, almost anyone can hook up and make a baby sometime during their life.

 

[ThinkingSapien]

Well don’t they say we stayed in a particular region for a long time and then suddenly went out and started expanding rapidly across the earth.

It is often said that the earliest known humans trace back to Africa .

Maybe there is a relationship between intelligence level and the degree to which an animal adapts to the environment vs adapting the environment to itself.

One of the definitions of intelligence involves behavioral adaptation. If you are talking about genetic adaptation it seems that many of the simpler organisms are able to adapt more rapidly. But the simpler organisms also tend to have less time between generations (measured in minutes, hours, or days instead of decades).

Also, since evolution depends greatly on survival of the most likely to reproduce, with the invention of the internet and mass communication, almost anyone can hook up and make a baby sometime during their life.

I’d say more developed transition plays a significant role in expanding the community from which some one may find a mate. Getting from one region to another has been much easier in the las hundred years than anytime before. However I think people in some communities delay or avoid producing children too.