Debunking the myth of forward-looking carnivores
I had a conversation last weekend, can’t remember how it kicked off but it was said that we (that is, humans) are born carnivorous. I said no we’re not, we’re born omnivorous. At that point, the person I was chatting with waved a hand in front of her face and pointed at her eyes. “Eyes at the front,” she said. “Not on the sides.”
This is an old, tired myth that is still supported in some scientific circles in defiance of the facts not fitting the theory even among today’s lifeforms, let alone the fossil record.
I pointed to our chickens. “Eyes at the side,” I replied. “Omnivorous but, it may surprise you, predominantly carnivorous if we didn’t feed them mostly wheat- and corn-based diets. They’ll eat as many bugs and slugs as they can get, even the occasional mouse and frog. Of course they love greens as well. You just won’t get anywhere near as many eggs if they eat more creatures than they do the veggie stuff.”
Snakes have eyes on the sides of their heads. Many carnivorous and omnivorous animals do. The dinosaurs didn’t have forward-facing eyes either. And what’s more, many primates with faces not dissimilar to our own (albeit a bit hairier) eat exclusively veggie diets.
This stupid myth has been around a long time and shows no sign of disappearing any time soon. It’s almost as crappy as the ’scientific theory’ that we humans only developed our intelligence to the extent we did because we stopped eating fruit and leaves and nuts exclusively when we climbed down from the trees and started scavenging the remains of corpses left behind by predators, going on to hunt and kill for ourselves (as well as each other).
There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest meat gave us our brains. None. It’s a theory, and one which serves as a means by which vegetarianism and veganism can be undermined. It holds as much validity and as much contrived malice as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. I guess we who forego the eating of flesh should be flattered we’re seen as so threatening we have bullshit spread about our values and lifestyle choices; maybe, just maybe, as the food crisis deepens—and heads-up, people, it won’t get any better, not ever, not anymore—vegetarians are the new Jews, after a fashion, seen as threatening the long-established status quo of what we eat and challenging unthinking consumption.
There’s always got to be this or that bogeyman, it seems. Perhaps it’s the turn of the veggies. We already know environmentalists are getting it in the neck from the middle classes.
It could, equally without foundation, be argued that it was our diet of fruit, leaves and nuts that gave us the intelligence to consider climbing down from the trees in the first place. Anyone thought of that before, hmm? The truth is, who knows the truth and who ultimately cares? Is it being said that the choices of our ancestors, or their evolutionary imperatives, should dictate the decisions we make today on what we eat?
If that’s so, the meaties advocating this rubbish should ditch their underwear and start humping in the shopping malls whenever the fancy takes them. Forget the trappings of civilisation. Go native, whatever you think that means.
Okay, some occasionally do. But the point stands.
I’m all for debating the politics of food with respect for the choices others make if they respect mine. We can argue robustly and passionately. But I’m not interesting in looking into the past for justifications, and find it rather perplexing that some meat-eaters feel the need to do so. I make my own decisions. So should we all. We can even change our minds whenever we want to. Marvellous.
tags: carnivores, chickens, choices, dinosaurs, ethics, food, fossils, lies, myths, omnivores, politics, prehistory, propaganda, vegans, vegetarians
6 comments on “Debunking the myth of forward-looking carnivores”
May 14th, 2008 at 11:31 am
you could point to your back teeth and say “look - molars”
you are right we are omnivores. our closest relatives (chimps) are omnivores. our success as a species is not because we eat meat or because we eat fruit - it’s because we eat a wide range, and are not dependant on one type of food. there are drawbacks in that our digestive systems are not specialised enough to be able to cope with one particular food. this causes a lot of problems today when we have too much of one thing (usually wheat) in our diet. but the advantages are worth the trade off. with a few exceptions, we can eat almost anything - a very strong survival trait. as far as our bodies and lifestyles are concerned, where we came from is not important. it is where we are now and where we are heading that matters.
May 14th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
@nightkin: That’s a good point about our success being linked in part to our ability to eat a range of foods, and the fact that this is why we sometimes see allergic responses and other sensitivities. x
May 14th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
It has always been my understanding that we started off as herbivores, and became omnivorous over time. I believe I have also read that it took thousand of years for our physiology to evolve to the point where it was/is processing protein with greater ease through meat. I will need to refind my own sources in case I have that wrong. Either way it is my understanding we were designed or evolved to be totally veggie in the first place, why you also see things like lactose intolerance etc.
I enjoy my meat, BUT I do eat less of it, and in part due to Andy, and others have become very selective in where my meat comes from.
A dear friend of mine is totally Vegan since her 20’s for health reasons. She does not even eat eggs or drink milk, cheese etc. She is a grandmother in her late 50’s now and if I could introduce you her looks, and energy is like someone half her age. Doing completely without animal products for 30 years has done her no harm, but she is the first to say it must be gradually and with a good knowledge of what the body requires. Oh and as for brains…she is the only layperson to have a paper on physics published in a prestigious Japanese scientific journal.
May 15th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Seems to me that these people are getting mixed up between the types of nutrition our bodies need and the types of food from which we can get the nutrition. For example, our bodies need protein, but this can be got from a variety of sources, meat, nuts and so on.
Maybe if we concentrated on the vitamins, minerals and nutrients our bodies needed then listed the types of food we could get this from, the misinformed might become less so…
May 16th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
@TLJ: Hmm. Sadly I think they’re not so much misinformed half the time as wilfully ignorant, which is a big difference! But your point is right, that people generally know little about nutrition (or, for that matter, their own bodies). x
May 16th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
@Sue: Thinking about it, I’ve met some brainy vegans. I’ve also met vegetarians who look a lot younger than their actual years. But then there’s Paul McCartney.
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