why DID we evolve into humans?

Adding my 2 cents to the original question posed if you are trying to guess why humans are the dominant species or why we evolved to what we are today I feel that our hands and in particular our thumbs are the reason we are what we are today. At some point in time our ancestors left the ground and took to the trees. Becoming good at moving around trees caused our hands to evolve the way they did. Once the hands evolved we were able to grip objects. Once we could grip an object eventually (like space odyssey 2000 depicts) we used an object as a tool and the missing link as they call it was started. Not just one being but groups of beings began to use very rudimentary tools. It was because of our hands and thumbs that we became dexterous with tools and that is the catalyst that started our path towards intelligence. The smarter we got the more ways we found to use tools and the more tools we created and more uses for tools the more our intelligence increased. Those groups or tribes that began to use tools day in and day out evolved to be smarter and walk more upright. Those that were happy to eat nuts and berries followed an evolutionary path that did not include an exponential increase in intelligence.Not sure if this is in the spirit of the posters original thread but if so then that is my opinion as to why humans evolved they way we did.

Language development would follow naturally as intelligence increased. There are many different areas of our evolution that made us what we are. I was trying to pinpoint what I felt was the catalyst that separated us from all other species and I think dexterity of the hands started the ball rolling. That was the question I felt the original post was thinking about.re: the dominant species. Shear number or ability survive adversity does not make a species dominant. I know of no other species that holds the future of all other species on this planet in its grasp. We decide as a whole (actually a small minority of our species) decides the fate and future of all species on this planet. We control whether the species of this planet survive or perish. Our choices as a species dictate the length of time that our planet will support a habitable environment for the bulk of the sentient beings on this planet. That in my eyes makes us the dominant species.

We are what we are because we made more use of what we needed daily and the more we used parts of our bodies the more they evolved. Giraffes needed to stretch their neck to reach higher and higher branches and over millions of years their necks and legs evolved because they used those parts of their bodies more. We have eyes because our bodies were bombarded with light waves so we developed organs to sense light. We were bombarded with sound waves so we developed organs to sense sound. A common ancestral path of evolution may have provided the building blocks but usage and in turn greater usage made our eyes or other body parts what they are. Animals that relied on their eyes to hunt or avoid being hunted mostly have better eyesight than herbivores or animals with minimal threats.Likewise, we used our hands more and more and they developed to be more useful to us. We used our brain more and more so it evolved more that other primates. We used our voice box so it evolved and carried with it the ability to enunciate a wider arrange of sounds. We stopped hanging from trees upside down so our tails disappeared and our toes evolved to meet our desire to walk upright. And this happens over millions upon millions of years. Evolution is a game of use it or lose it.We could only guess what path evolution could take us on if we happen to by some slim chance provide for a habitable environment on this planet for another million years. Our brains could evolve much further so we use more of it than we do now and unlock its true potential and it might be much more common place for the masses to comprehend complex ideas?

What would a correct statement of how it happens be?I believe the constant stretching to reach food higher on the tree tops over the course of generations upon generations would in fact give rise to stronger neck muscles, stronger leg muscles, longer necks, and longer legs. Its no different then the brontosaurus and the T-rex. T-rex evolved to have lots of sharp teeth and brontosaurus to have long necks because over hundreds of thousands possibly millions of years the physical form evolved to suit the environment.This message has been edited by nipok, 08-10-2004 04:22 AM