Re: Carrying the Baby

TomHendricks474@xxxxxx wrote:

Many suggest that when hominids became bipedal, this led
to increased intelligence because the free hands could now
use tools.
That may be part of the story, but I think more important is the
ability for the mother to be able to carry the baby. Humans
have little in common with dolphins when it comes to
opposable thumbs. But we do share the
extremely close mother/child bonds found in just about all
highly intelligent species.

I agree with you as to the importance of the mother carrying the baby, but I
think you miss the point. Paul Crowley pointed out that in chimps (which
show male violence) mother and child are very close, and Jim noted that
some of the human societies with close bonds between mother and child may
also not be all that peaceble.

The real significance of carrying the baby is the ability to delay
maturation. Chimps have to be able to hold on to their moms - they are
altricial, but cannot afford to be too altricial. Human babies can have
their development very delayed because the bipedal mothers can carry them
and the fathers provide care which allows the mothers to spend time and
energy carrying them.


--
Yours, Bill Morse

.

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