Oh #^*%

Anthropologists frequently remind us that the bipedal posture acquired by humans brought on spinal problems that do not always appear to warrant the benefits of freeing our hands for creative activities. Back aches, vertebrae dislocations, and nervous disorders haunt many adults of the human species. A book I retrieved from my library about what makes us human revealed one habit of our species that had not been brought to my attention before. When we decided to run about on two feet our hips put on great muscles. What was not mentioned before in the literature, at least not in such vivid word pictures to my knowledge, is how personal hygiene was affected. Think about the chimps and great apes, whose internal digestion is much like our own, occasionally get up on their hind legs but never developed butt muscles. So what? Well Peter Farb back in 1978 brought up, among other important ideas, that most mammals defecate in a particular space away from their “nesting” place, the feces dropping cleanly off their bodies. Lo, humans developed bilateral symmetrical muscles, one on each hip that pinched together causing fecal matter to stick to the inner surface. Sanitation was considered. Early humankind recognized the need to assign separate areas for defecation and the need to teach the culture’s approved method of anal cleaning. Farb contends that human societies would have for health reasons resolved toilet training well before developing the arts of painting, song and dance. What do you think of that?

This entry was posted on Mar 5, 2010 at 12:35 PM and is filed under Social Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.