Re: AAT Theory

H. M. Hubey (hubey@pegasus.montclair.edu)
10 Oct 1995 23:20:11 -0400

n8010095@cc.wwu.edu (Phillip Bigelow) writes:

> Keep in mind that a hairless aquatic ape sleeping on a windy shoreline at
>night is going to have the same thermo-regulation problems as a hairless
>fully-terrestrial hominid at night. A fully terrestrial hominid can put on

We don't disagree that heat exchange is a part of the problem.

>animal skin clothing to keep warm. Since I have *no* idea what a naked,
>hairless, 100-pound-or-less "aquatic ape" will do to keep warm after wading
>all day, and then sleeping on the beach or sand bar at night, I'll pass on
>that. Why don't you ask Ms. Morgan?
>

I was discussing process and you have switched to the 'state' view.
I don't deny that the external technology to decrease conductance
(i.e. prevent heat loss) is easier. A covering will do. This technology
was available intellectually to the humanoids at some time in their
evolution. I don't know when. I don't think chimps can do it but
I'm not aware of any experiments along these lines.

I was discussing the process that brought about the changes which
resulted in hair loss. If it had survival value, it must have happened
to allow the animal to expel more heat. Naturally, the SST'ers
only look at the "hot, dry savannah" and see it as perfectly
normal. However, it is not. If you notice the dress of the Central
Asians, it's thick and covers them from head to toe. One reason is
that the sun's rays during the days beat on them mercilessly. The
second reason is that when the sun goes down it becomes
uncomfortably cold without some thick clothing. So hair loss in
such an environment is no blessing, night or day.

Another reason is that the animal was getting bigger. Now, the
heat transfer people with their dimensional analysis and allometric
equations interpret thusly; "Well, look at the hippo or the elephant.
It's big so it has problems ejecting heat and thus had to become
naked. So it fits."

But it doesn't fit the process. It's an explanation after the fact
and it describes the present "state". If getting large is a cause
for concern because of heat rejection problems, then why would
the animals be getting bigger during this nightmarish hot and dry
season? The larger animals would be dying from overheating and
the small animals would have an easier time surviving. This
coupled with the fact that the cold nights and the severe sunlight
during the day would have hurt those animals which started to
mutate toward losing hair.

Looked at in multiple dimensions, the changes would seem to be
in the opposite direction.

-- 





				Regards, Mark

				http://www.smns.montclair.edu/~hubey