why do humans cook their meat when no other animal does the same
In: 0
Cooking requires fire.
Fire requires three things. Oxygen, Fuel, and heat.
While it’s possible an animal with paws could capture the first two, generating heat sufficient to start fire with wood (the most common fuel) requires temperatures in excess of 450′ degrees F. That is exceptionally hard to pull off without a tool.
We figured it out. It’s a wood spindle atop a wood plank with a notch containing tinder.
And using a tool like this requires either opposable thumbs, or the ability to make a bow-string-type spinner for focusing friction, which also requires opposable thumbs to use and to build.
The only alternative approach would be to use paws to capture fire into a carrying container which could be transported and used in an attempt to ignite other fuel sources (which would be labouriously difficult without axes and other opposable-thumb requiring tools.
TL;DR Look down at your hands, find your thumbs, and kiss them like they deserve it.
Also, more relevant to the question of why we do it- it’s actually more nutritious cooked then raw. Fire basically starts to digest the meat for us in a sense, making it easier for our body to break down the hunk of mammoth so not only does it take less energy to get the calories and nutrients, but the protein is in a more usable state.
Cooking requires fire.
Fire requires three things. Oxygen, Fuel, and heat.
While it’s possible an animal with paws could capture the first two, generating heat sufficient to start fire with wood (the most common fuel) requires temperatures in excess of 450′ degrees F. That is exceptionally hard to pull off without a tool.
We figured it out. It’s a wood spindle atop a wood plank with a notch containing tinder.
And using a tool like this requires either opposable thumbs, or the ability to make a bow-string-type spinner for focusing friction, which also requires opposable thumbs to use and to build.
The only alternative approach would be to use paws to capture fire into a carrying container which could be transported and used in an attempt to ignite other fuel sources (which would be labouriously difficult without axes and other opposable-thumb requiring tools.
TL;DR Look down at your hands, find your thumbs, and kiss them like they deserve it.
Cooking requires fire.
Fire requires three things. Oxygen, Fuel, and heat.
While it’s possible an animal with paws could capture the first two, generating heat sufficient to start fire with wood (the most common fuel) requires temperatures in excess of 450′ degrees F. That is exceptionally hard to pull off without a tool.
We figured it out. It’s a wood spindle atop a wood plank with a notch containing tinder.
And using a tool like this requires either opposable thumbs, or the ability to make a bow-string-type spinner for focusing friction, which also requires opposable thumbs to use and to build.
The only alternative approach would be to use paws to capture fire into a carrying container which could be transported and used in an attempt to ignite other fuel sources (which would be labouriously difficult without axes and other opposable-thumb requiring tools.
TL;DR Look down at your hands, find your thumbs, and kiss them like they deserve it.
Short answer, “because we can”. But it’s cooler than that.
There’s good evidence to suggest that the greater nutrient availability of cooked proteins is partially responsible for the increase in brainpower among early hominids.
We cook meat because we’re human, but *we’re human because we cook meat*.
Short answer, “because we can”. But it’s cooler than that.
There’s good evidence to suggest that the greater nutrient availability of cooked proteins is partially responsible for the increase in brainpower among early hominids.
We cook meat because we’re human, but *we’re human because we cook meat*.
Short answer, “because we can”. But it’s cooler than that.
There’s good evidence to suggest that the greater nutrient availability of cooked proteins is partially responsible for the increase in brainpower among early hominids.
We cook meat because we’re human, but *we’re human because we cook meat*.
Also, more relevant to the question of why we do it- it’s actually more nutritious cooked then raw. Fire basically starts to digest the meat for us in a sense, making it easier for our body to break down the hunk of mammoth so not only does it take less energy to get the calories and nutrients, but the protein is in a more usable state.
Also, more relevant to the question of why we do it- it’s actually more nutritious cooked then raw. Fire basically starts to digest the meat for us in a sense, making it easier for our body to break down the hunk of mammoth so not only does it take less energy to get the calories and nutrients, but the protein is in a more usable state.
Cooking meat allowed early humans to exist without as large and rugged of a jaw. This left room for a larger brain. Larger brain allowed humans to continue existing. In a way, were human because we cook meat… Not we cook meat because we’re human.
Latest Answers