Thumbs, Brains , and the Food Chain

Because of the development of thumbs, and the evolution of our brains, we sit atop the food chain. Though this is situational.

First, we have thumbs, but so do most ape species. But we have the larger brain to combine with thumbs and create things like tools, and Iphones. So one of the first things we created that put us at the top of the food chain was weapons. We made spears and arrows and axes with stone heads. Primitive man would hunt or trick lower animals for sustenance. This increased protein intake helped us to evolve even more. But the food chain is a tricky thing which is why it is situational.

Say, for example, a lone hunter were caught in the wild by a sabertooth cat. The cat has the advantage of speed and big pointy teeth. The hunter had few chances. So in this situation the hunter is lower on the food chain.

In modern times the advent of the gun makes the "death curve" very unfair. Hunters with guns have a much better chance to take out any critter out there, no matter how dangerous. (Unless it's something so big that shooting it would just piss it off. i.e. rhinos, hippos, elephants.) A leopard would have a hard time getting the drop on a dude with a gun. But put a man out in the wilderness without a gun, the leopard wins. Unless he happens to run into Tarzan. Tarzan can pretty much kick any animal's ass thus far.

In the ocean it's a bit of a different story. The effectiveness of a gun is greatly reduced. But there's fewer things out there that really are looking for people as a meal. Sharks mainly. But not all sharks look for people to eat. Most shark attacks are mistaken identity, a shark thinking the silhoutte above them is a slow moving seal. So many shark attacks are the shark taking a nibble to see if it is edible and spitting the person out. But that kind of sucks because they do so much damage that many people don't live... So in the ocean, humans are not on the top of the food chain.

You see, it depends on the circumstance. In my corner grocery store I am King of the food chain, and I don't even require a weapon of any kind. All I need is money. Which I can pull out of my wallet, held between a forefinger and my thumb.