Are We Born To Climb?

Figured this one might give some folks some fodder for discussion. Everyone can agree we are "born to run" but are we "born to climb"?

Are We Born To Climb by D Scott Borden? climbingzine.com/are-we-bor…

Good question,,,I think it was after seeing some kind of old war movie from the 50's..'Darbys Rangers',,that I got the inclination to take an old clothesline and drop it 20 ft.down a very steep dirt embankment and haul myself back up it,,and I was maybe 9 or 10. It was a thrill,,and I guess I never looked back since then.

My understanding is that humans evolved to be bipedal because walking on two legs reduces the effect that the sun has on heating the body as a whole. Keeping the core cooler in hot climates apparently allows increased brain activity and therefore cognitive ability.

If this is true, which I'm going to assume it is, then whilst homosapiens are built or rather evolved to be intelligent, we suffer physical disadvantages as a result. We are not the best runners, not the best swimmers, not the best climbers, not the best diggers, not the best jumpers, not the best suited to living in any particular environment. And yet at the same time, because of our brains, which have allowed us language, social structure, tools, science, industry and technology, we are, at least in a way, the best at all of these things.

And not to be forgotten. Whilst we may not be best suited to any of those physical tasks, can you think of any one species who can do them all as well as humans can? I can't. Humans are above all adaptable. We survive and learn to thrive in almost any land environment other animals can inhabit. We are not only mentally adaptable, but physically adaptable too. Do we as a species have a disposition towards these physical tasks? I would say that depending on an individuals genetics and the environment in which they grew up, yes probably. It makes the species more adaptable to not only be willing to do these things, but to want to do them. To get to food, water, safety, shelter, or to migrate. Survival through adaptation. It's the human way. But did we evolve to be this way in a physical sense? Perhaps. Physical adaptability in order to achieve what a higher functioning brain could comprehend would certainly be beneficial. But I don't think a species could evolve to excel physically in so many different ways. I think if anything we evolved away from any physical specializations. I believe it's more of a mental trait and as such it can be encouraged when we are children or discouraged. This is why some people are terrified of water whilst others love to be in it. Why some people will not run unless they're being chased, and other will run everywhere they can. Why some people are scared of heights and other would love to spend the weekend working their way up a vertical wall of rock.

So to sum up my thoughts. Are we born to climb? No. But we're born with the ability and willingness to climb.

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Great assessment of the evolutionary path that has allowed humans to accomplish what we have. Well done.

I start climbing with this thought:

"Your mother was monkey with a big fat head!"

Boy did I get lucky.

Nah...if we were born to climb we would all have gecko hands and feet.

It's fun though so who cares.

Tyson Anderson wrote:Nah...if we were born to climb we would all have gecko hands and feet. It's fun though so who cares.

Yeah,,that would have been the ultimate evolutionary difference for us to have kept...how awesome to not need gear and just be speeding past each other on the cliffs,,going every which way,,upside down,,,descents,,,traverse over to see a friend on another route...it would be like an out of control freeway of climbers all over the place,,and I think we would lose interest without the trad gear placement challenges that we get to face just the way we are now...and think of all the gear companies that would be out of business.