On Thu, 2 Jul 2009 14:16:35 -0400, Cooley, Brad 
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>On Thu, 2 Jul 2009 12:18:10 -0400, Padraig Hogan 
><[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>>I suggest you read Man The Hunted and similar books which completely 
>>overturn the idea of man hunting for meat, 
>
>I assume you mean Man th Hunter (edited by Richard Lee) based on the 1966 
>symposium.  It was called Man the Hunter for a reason...because man hunts, 
>which is contrary to your assertion that they ate fruits (and some 
>insects/eggs).
>

No, not at all. Man The Hunted is a recent book and a play on the title of Man 
The Hunter. It's a very well written and recent book which contradicts the 
main ideas in Man The Hunted and shows how the tides changed so much from 
the days when Man The Hunted was taken as gospel, and how few people 
genuinely believe that was the case. 
 
It's not a refutation of the entire book per se, however it does show that the 
modern theory lies much more towards the idea of paleo man as being a 
scavenger and a hunted animal rather than the far too stressed idea of him 
being a hunter in times past. The fact is we don't really know, my personal 
beliefs would be more in line with Man The Hunted. I recommend you look into 
it. 
   
>Man is an omnivore and can eat a wide range of foods.  Either provide some 
>reference to your claim that man is essentially a fruitarian, or stop with your 
>unfouonded claims.
>
>Also, you keep referring to Africa as if there is a limitless supply of fruit year-
>round, which is not the case.  There are other parts of the world such as the 
>arctic and northern europe during the last ice age where fruit was essentially 
>non-existent, and only available seasonally if you count berries.  How do you 
>explain this situation based on your theory that man ate mainly fruit?

Well I guess our ancestors dug up vegetables then. But it's my firm belief that 
when times were good they ate mainly fruit. Sure, if times get VERY bad 
animals will start to eat their own faeces, that doesn't mean it's the optimal 
choice for them. Fruit is the food of choice for nearly all primates. I personally 
am not some kind of "fruitarian" (unless you go by the ridiculous definition of 
75% of fruit by *weight* that beyondveg gives, which would make most 
people who consume fruit and live healthy but cook vegetables fruitarians).

On Thu, 2 Jul 2009 13:22:20 -0500, Jim Swayze 
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Padraig, while i have enjoyed your empassioned posts, you are woefully
>ignorant of the anthropological record.  As Todd very clearly pointed
>out, there is a near universal agreement by anthropologists that man
>has been obtaining a good portion of his calories in the form of fat
>and meat for at least the last 2.3 million years
>
>You cannot continue to ignore this fact.  Doing so makes you look
>rather silly.

A "good portion" in the form of fat and meat is not so far from what the 
chimpanzees get as well, it's not the same as 30%-40% every day. 2.3 million 
years ago I don't think we were even called humans, homo sapiens.