Monday, August 30, 2010

Little humans


We can say that humans have the right size to work as we do. With half of our size (in my case would be 84 cm) we could not wield a mace for hunting large animals (as the kinetic energy would decrease between 16 and 32 times), we could not bring enough momentum to spears or arrows, we could not cut or open wood with primitive tools, or extract minerals with picks and drills (all activities were essential in our historical development).
If we had the size of an ant, things would be even more complicated. Small animals live in a world dominated by surface forces that do not affect us for practical purposes. A man the size of an ant could wear clothes, but the surface adhesion forces would prevent him fom removing them. He could not light a fire, since a stable flame has to be several millimeters in length. He could mold gold leaf  thick enough to produce a book appropriate to his size, but the surface tension would prevent him from turning the pages.
Our skills and behaviors are finely attuned to our size.

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