The Wayward Axolotl

In this essay, I will argue that human evolution was primarily the evolution of a new diet. The key traits that set us apart from other great apes (bipedalism, tool use, social organization, and a larger brain) are all linked to diet. Our last common ancestor with chimpanzees lived sometime between 6 and 4 million years ago. It was probably similar to a chimp in appearance and behavior. Like a chimp, it ate mostly plant foods, with some animal foods. Although we are closely related to chimps, the human form has diverged from that ancestral form in many ways. The important differences are: Bipedalism. Hands shaped for tool use. Bigger brains. Language and more complex social organization. Smaller jaws and teeth. A smaller gut relative to body size. When we think of the differences between ourselves and the other apes, or other animals, a small gut is not what usually comes to mind. Neither is small teeth. We tend to focus on the dramatic differences in behavior and intelligenc...

I saw this article on the CBC and I just had to respond to it, because it’s such absolute garbage: National inquiry calls murders and disappearances of Indigenous women a ‘Canadian genocide’ Excerpt: The thousands of Indigenous women and girls who were murdered or disappeared across the country in recent decades are victims of a “Canadian genocide,” says the final report of the national inquiry created to probe the ongoing tragedy. The report, obtained by CBC News and verified by sources, concludes that a genocide driven by the disproportionate level of violence faced by indigenous women and girls occurred in Canada through “state actions and inactions rooted in colonialism and colonial ideologies.” “We do know that thousands of Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA (two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual) have been lost to the Canadian genocide to date,” said the report, titled Reclaiming Power and Place. Th...