Last time I looked, humans are the dominant species on this planet, not tigers. That’s because humans know that intellect trumps physical size and strength.
A question for the ages. Some suggest the ability to adapt to new circumstances. Others mention really being fast on one’s feet. [Another example of adaptation. If you don’t adapt your speed to be faster than the predator, you don’t survive.]
We guys had to evolve from tree dwellers to furless apes on savannahs, become upright and using our hands to carry and invent tools instead of walking on them.
There’s two points here: Tools both protected us from predators (like tigers) and allowed us to hunt for ourselves. Before we were effective hunters we were scavengers, gnawing on the bones left by lions and such.
(Of course, we didn’t need tools to catch and eat bugs and other small animals. There isn’t a fructivore ape alive who’ll pass of a frog or fat spider if it can get one.)
I firmly believe tools were invented by a three-year-old boy who found a stick. I wasn’t there to see it, but it is re-enacted by every three-year-old boy to this day.
There is one thing humans can do better than any other animal on the planet: throw things like spears, footballs, baseballs and basketballs with accuracy. We pay people a lot of money to do that today.
We invented arms length weapons (spears) and distance weapons (bow and arrow), but the big thing was we worked together. A tiger can easily kill a bee, but runs from a swarm.
Cuz.. while you were eating one of us, the mom got mad and got you with rocks, then the dads stepped in and rocks became clubs which became spears then arrows and today we are all the way up to atomic bombs.
Stamina and social organization were our superpowers. We couldn’t outrun many animals, but we could outjog every single mammal. We organized elaborate day-long pursuits of the targeted prey animal and kept catching up with it till it was exhausted. That made landing the kill shot much easier.
As for tearing flesh from another animal’s body, our jaws used to be much stronger. The invention of tools eliminated the need for that, and a mutation that natural selection would have otherwise filtered out of the gene pool made it through. It worked out in the end, because the loss of bite force freed up more cranial space for brain development.
Hominids were using tools before h. sapiens were walking the earth. The fact is tool use influenced our evolution. We evoloved along with our growing tool use with genes for fur and large molars being lost as we tamed fire and learned to cook food. This led to larger brains as we got more nutrition from cooked food. And so the cycle went on.
BE THIS GUY 9 months ago
Mastered the skill of hiding.
codycab 9 months ago
You don’t have claws or sharp teeth, Calvin.
JïllDérs(TOMGF) 9 months ago
The worst attack on prey by any animal. Even worse when it’s Calvin
The Calvinosaurus That Calvin Wanted To Discover 9 months ago
For one, the people who invented tools lived past age 6.
JudasPeckerwood 9 months ago
We stayed safely up in the trees until we got a handle on the whole tool thing.
chaosed2 9 months ago
teamwork. And patience.
snsurone76 9 months ago
Is Calvin trying to emulate Hobbes?? Won’t work.
Robert4170 9 months ago
Last time I looked, humans are the dominant species on this planet, not tigers. That’s because humans know that intellect trumps physical size and strength.
sandpiper 9 months ago
A question for the ages. Some suggest the ability to adapt to new circumstances. Others mention really being fast on one’s feet. [Another example of adaptation. If you don’t adapt your speed to be faster than the predator, you don’t survive.]
BigDaveGlass 9 months ago
Just don’t try that on Moe…..
Jayalexander 9 months ago
Stayed in the cave and ate bushes.
saylorgirl 9 months ago
For as smart as you are Calvin, you just got a mouth full of fur instead of biting Hobbes. LOL
The Reader Premium Member 9 months ago
Let alone long enough to invent comic strips.
robinafox 9 months ago
I think making friends with dogs was key.
jagedlo 9 months ago
In panel one, we see that Calvin has the “Eye of the Tiger”, but will he be a “Survivor”?
Count Olaf Premium Member 9 months ago
Much less social media.
Link from Twilight Princess (He/Him) 9 months ago
Back then there wasn’t any internet.
VegaAlopex 9 months ago
We guys had to evolve from tree dwellers to furless apes on savannahs, become upright and using our hands to carry and invent tools instead of walking on them.
Redd Panda 9 months ago
Calvin can take down a tiger, when Calvin can jump straight up, three times his own height.
joegeethree 9 months ago
Developed a taste for meat and evolved larger brains.
KageKat 9 months ago
Supposedly the real answer is persistence hunting – we’re one of the few species that will actually track a prey herd over miles or days.
rshive 9 months ago
Kind of innate in tigers.
fritzoid Premium Member 9 months ago
There’s two points here: Tools both protected us from predators (like tigers) and allowed us to hunt for ourselves. Before we were effective hunters we were scavengers, gnawing on the bones left by lions and such.
(Of course, we didn’t need tools to catch and eat bugs and other small animals. There isn’t a fructivore ape alive who’ll pass of a frog or fat spider if it can get one.)
LKrueger41 9 months ago
I firmly believe tools were invented by a three-year-old boy who found a stick. I wasn’t there to see it, but it is re-enacted by every three-year-old boy to this day.
dflak 9 months ago
There is one thing humans can do better than any other animal on the planet: throw things like spears, footballs, baseballs and basketballs with accuracy. We pay people a lot of money to do that today.
PassinThru 9 months ago
We invented arms length weapons (spears) and distance weapons (bow and arrow), but the big thing was we worked together. A tiger can easily kill a bee, but runs from a swarm.
akachman Premium Member 9 months ago
It’s a wonder, right?
Alberta Oil Premium Member 9 months ago
Cuz.. while you were eating one of us, the mom got mad and got you with rocks, then the dads stepped in and rocks became clubs which became spears then arrows and today we are all the way up to atomic bombs.
billwog 9 months ago
We got lucky and picked up the upper leg bone of an antelope and used it as a club.
g04922 9 months ago
LOL… Hobbes makes a good point.
gregcomn 9 months ago
Reminds me of an old “ Get Fuzzy” strip where Bucky thinks he is pounding on Satchel, who thinks Bucky is trying to tickle him.
tammyspeakslife Premium Member 9 months ago
Genesis 3:21
21 "The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. "
mindjob 9 months ago
Tools were readily available in the form of sticks. Opposable thumbs helped us use them
John Jorgensen 9 months ago
Stamina and social organization were our superpowers. We couldn’t outrun many animals, but we could outjog every single mammal. We organized elaborate day-long pursuits of the targeted prey animal and kept catching up with it till it was exhausted. That made landing the kill shot much easier.
As for tearing flesh from another animal’s body, our jaws used to be much stronger. The invention of tools eliminated the need for that, and a mutation that natural selection would have otherwise filtered out of the gene pool made it through. It worked out in the end, because the loss of bite force freed up more cranial space for brain development.
Happy, happy, happy!!! Premium Member 9 months ago
They ate anything. Or would try to.
flpmlp 9 months ago
Mastered the skill of teamwork!
Arghhgarrr Premium Member 9 months ago
Hominids were using tools before h. sapiens were walking the earth. The fact is tool use influenced our evolution. We evoloved along with our growing tool use with genes for fur and large molars being lost as we tamed fire and learned to cook food. This led to larger brains as we got more nutrition from cooked food. And so the cycle went on.
hagarthehorrible 9 months ago
Man is physically the weakest, alright.
Gus the goose 8 months ago
I saw this comic in 1994 febuary 12 I think it’s being reused