Why Babies are Born Helpless
Other animals can practically stand at birth, why can’t humans?
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This intrigued me for years. Horse foals come out of their mothers practically galloping, baby monkeys jump out of the birth canal swinging for the nearest tree, but humans are born useless and pretty much stay that way for years.
We rely on our elders for sustenance, warmth and protection for a decade or more — a baby left on its own will likely die within a day. Surely this wasn’t an optimal evolutionary state to be in, back in caveman times. Especially when we were roaming the Savannah foraging for food and trying to dodge lions, tigers and bigger primates.
Spending years caring for a helpless baby human would’ve been a serious disadvantage when you’re climbing a tree or running from a jaguar. Yet here we are, the rulers of planet, with all other animals subjugated beneath us.
Seemingly being born helpless hasn’t hindered us at all, it might’ve even helped, and it has to do with three things; our brains, our feet and our social communities.
Our Big Brains
We have big heads, within which we house big brains, compared to other animals and…
