Re: The straw man.

J. Moore (j#d#.moore@canrem.com)
Sun, 15 Oct 95 10:39:00 -0500

Pa> The advantages obtained have to outweigh the disadvantages - not being
Pa> able to race up trees, nor escape cats in them, nor rest in them at
Pa> night, and not being able to carry infants unencumbered.

Pa> Paul.

Well, you sure are clinging to your strawman.

Pa> not being able to race up trees
Pa> nor escape cats in them
Pa> nor rest in them at night,

Bipedalism does not preclude tree-climbing; even modern humans do
it. Transitional hominids, who show adaptation well-suited for
climbing, could certainly do as well, and probably much better.
You also continue to insist on your strawman version of anti-predator
methods, even in the face of facts to the contrary. Morgan does
the same, insisting that high speed running and/or tree climbing was
the only viable option. When your view of reality has been shown
to be false, as yours has, and you persist in presenting it anyway
as if it were true, people will talk.

Pa> and not being able to carry infants unencumbered.

Interesting rhetorical device, that. (Again, a popular tactic of
Morgan's.) It is physically impossible for any organism to carry
anything "unencumbered". However, your view that bipedal hominids
could not carry their young is rather obviously inaccurate; they
would even be able to use their normal, predominate mode of
locomotion. In addition, it has been pointed out that infants
during the transition would be able to help out there as well
(adaptations well-suited for climbing are also well-suited for
grasping). Again, when your view of reality has been shown to
be false, as yours has, and you persist in presenting it anyway
as if it were true, people will talk.

Jim Moore (j#d#.moore@canrem.com)

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