• vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 year ago

      Nope, we are really fucking good at throwing. Basically we created a feadback loop due to how throwing with more accuracy and force was better for hunting and defense that it increased survival ratings. This in turn meant those who threw better got to breed while those who didnt died.

      • Minarble@aussie.zone
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 year ago

        I wonder if the inherent ability to do the physics required to do an accurate throw fed into humanity’s ability to do maths?

        • radix@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Probably not. In calculus class, our teacher showed us a video showing a dog finding the quickest path to catch a ball using the trajectory of the ball to predict where the ball would land and its own knowledge of its swimming versus running speeds to predict the best place at which to enter the water the ball would land in. The human had thrown the projectile into a river, and the dog started running as soon as the human released the ball. The video was taken from above, and it had been edited to show the audience the calculus required to find the optimal path. The dog followed this path exactly.

          But dogs aren’t good at math. I don’t know how you would get a dog to attempt an algebra problem, but they probably couldn’t do it. The calculation required to throw a ball accurately or decide when to cross into the river is probably more instinctual.

          • Bluescluestoothpaste@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            1 year ago

            You’re begging the question – dogs are good at math! Even if they can’t read or write differential equations, they’re solving the problem posed to them!

            • radix@lemm.ee
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              Good problem-solvers, but not good at math bc they can’t show their work or write a proof or explain how they got to the result beyond “I don’t know, it just feels right”.

              Isn’t math defined as the logical steps to get from axioms to theorems, followed by the application of theorems to specific problems? Dogs don’t do that, they just guess (and often guess correctly).