TED Talk: Elaine Morgan says we evolved from Aquatic Apes.

http://www.ted.com/talks/elaine_morgan_says_we_evolved_from_aquatic_apes.html

by ericb • 17 years ago

14 24 17 years ago

ted.com

jacquesm• 17 years ago

It should be noted that the Aquatic Ape theory is controversial at best.

ericb2• 17 years ago

Did you watch the talk? That was clear from the theme.

michael_dorfman• 17 years ago

I'm in no position to judge the evidence, but I'm glad to see that Elaine Morgan is still at it.

encoderer• 17 years ago

As has been nearly every major scientific discovery since they very dawn of science itself.

fhars• 17 years ago

Actually, within the scientific community the aquatic ape theory is about as controversial as intelligent design. It never had any supporting evidence. See http://www.aquaticape.org/

marze• 17 years ago

In the late 1600s, Nicolaus Steno published his book laying down the foundations of the science of Geology.

What prompted the work was the fact people found sea shells and fossil shark teeth on mountains and in mines and embedded in rock everywhere.

The theory at the time was that the shells just grew in the rock, basically 'magically'.

Steno's theory that the shells were deposited in sedimentary layers in water that later turned to rock and were uplifted took about 120 years to be accepted.

Science has proven slow to accept what in retrospect appears completely obvious. 120 years to decide shells embedded in rock identical to living shells didn't just 'grow' there.

Fossil evidence for the aquatic ape theory, if it exists at all, would be found about 300 feet below sea level (the sea is higher now).

The ability of humans to dive deeply in the ocean and swim so well suggests it was important for survival at some point in the past. And it doesn't seem unreasonable that early humans lived along the coasts and ate fish and other sea life.

I'm not sure why this idea is so controversial, really.

biohacker422• 17 years ago

Can I flag this for being stupid? OK I am instead going to use it as a teaching moment.

Remember hacker news disease? The symptom of having a strong opinion on topics you really shouldn't be having an opinion on? OK so if you find yourself even remotely agreeing with the Aquatic Ape theory, do yourself a favor and research the counter evidence, it's easy to find and obvious enough to convince yourself.

It's just a shame that non-stupid ideas have to share TED with this. This and that rambling talk about the dangers of robots (OMG roombas!) are so far the worst things I've seen at TED.

Lets just hope that TED doesn't devolve from here.

ericb2• 17 years ago

I have no opinion in particular about this idea, but if this was a teaching moment, seems like a good time to include a link to your easy-to-find counter evidence, rather than name-calling the theory "stupid."

biohacker422• 17 years ago

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=735181

GrishaRemake5• 17 years ago

First of all, this theory is not stupid.

Humans belong to a small number of animal groups that display vocal learning.

Vocal Learning Animals have a special “language” gene ( FoxP2 ), that gives them the ability to learn and imitate sounds they hear.

Among mammals only Dolphins, Whales, Seals, Elephants and Humans have FoxP2 gene. All of them are aquatic animals or have aquatic ancestors.

Tichy3• 17 years ago

I think the notion of a (single) gene giving the ability to learn is already flawed.

asdlfj2sd332• 17 years ago

Elephants and Humans aren't aquatic.

sampladoc• 17 years ago

If there is is evidence it will be accepted for review, if not it will be rejected..... simple.

quisxt• 17 years ago

This isn't particularly new -- the theory has been around for more than 60 years.

Anthropologists certainly are aware of the theory. It comes up all the time in student papers and discussions. My first encounter with it was when I was a grad student TAing Anthro 1.

There does not seem to be any evidence in the fossil record that supports the theory.

TED Talk: Elaine Morgan says we evolved from Aquatic Apes.

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