Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
« One thing at a time | Main | Water, water inside please. »
Evolution from the ape
Although we're not direct descendants of gorillas, it's interesting to see how we have evolved as a species from our ape-like ancestors. How much more upright and differently proportioned we have become given the needs of modern day living.
Our arms particularly have changed as we no longer need to use them for balance, so over millions of years of evolution they have reduced in size and weight in relation to our overall size so they are lighter and easier to carry around. Now we stand on two feet rather than four and we can use our hands to do many dexterous things of which Kong can only dream.
Our skull has increased in size at the front allowing for our growing brain and higher intelligence. The vestibular mechanism in our inner ear that helps us balance has even rotated around 90 degrees to cope with being on just two feet.
Our facial muscles have also changed along with our language of expression, so smiling where we bear our teeth is not just a sign of aggression, but of friendship...a new thing that King Kong has not yet got the hang of.
But it's interesting to see the gorilla's ability to use cortical opposition, as he gently curls his fingers opposite his thumb so they can can clasp, enabling him to pick up and hold Naomi Watts with ease. This is an activity that we uniquely share with apes and gorillas and had a large part to play in our ability to use primitive tools, helping us survive where other species became extinct. And today it lets us hold mugs of tea, beer and shopping bags. How different yet similar we still are....
