According to Rod Whiteley, a Senior Research and Education Physiotherapist, skilled throwing has been one of the biggest drivers of the evolutionary success of humans, if not the biggest of all.

“I think it can also help explain our reasonably egalitarian social structures, right-handedness, big brains and small teeth, how we did in the Neanderthals, and a bunch of other things besides.”

“Hitting a target the size of a rabbit from a distance of two car lengths requires a release window of about 1/2000th of a second, which individual nerve cells just aren’t capable of. Instead you have to have a large pool of these neurons, and then average them to achieve this degree of precision. The required increase in brain size to allow accurately timed throws was later co-opted for language above the Sylvian fissure in your brain. Throwing came first, it’s suggested, as the ability to hunt and therefore feed in a plain devoid of nuts but full of rabbits was more important than the slower survival advantage that language offers.”

Ockham’s Razor

I throw like a girl.

Divine Angel said:

I throw like a girl.

If your mother threw like one as well, then it is probably genetic.

Australian aboriginals are documented as being especially dangerous to the better armed 18th and 19th century colonial invaders:

‘Many a time, before the character of the natives was known, has an armed soldier been killed by a totally unarmed Australian. The man has fired at the native, who, by dodging about has prevented the enemy from taking correct aim, and then has been simply cut to pieces by a shower of stones, picked up and hurled with a force and precision that must be seen to be believed … To fling one stone with perfect precision is not so easy a matter as it seems, but the Australian will hurl one after the other with such rapidity that they seem to be poured from some machine; and as he throws them he leaps from side to side so as to make the missiles converge from different directions upon the unfortunate object of his aim.’

“… a pleasant reminder that the cricket season is soon to start.”

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A reference to the evolution of Mitchell Johnson?

>if not the biggest of all

I smell exaggeration.

Hitting a target the size of a rabbit from a distance of two car lengths requires a release window of about 1/2000th of a second, which individual nerve cells just aren’t capable of.

——

Well tell that to all the predators that prejudge their prey.

tauto said:

Hitting a target the size of a rabbit from a distance of two car lengths requires a release window of about 1/2000th of a second, which individual nerve cells just aren’t capable of.

——

Well tell that to all the predators that prejudge their prey.

Lions knock zebras out with balls all the time.

CrazyNeutrino said:

Lions knock zebras out with balls all the time.

What if they’ve been neutered?

Certainly has some origins with geometry (sound, light, gravity, centre of gravity, triangulation, 1/2MV^2 =KE and much more no doubt), not so sure regarding the pointedness of the attribution regards spear throwing. Even the phase transitions of water, the fact we can walk through air (and gravity), these’d be substantial ‘teachers’ through biohistory, as would day/night cycles, lunar cycles, seasonal cycles, and the relationships of the physics involved has a high chance of being imbedded in a replicator in representative forms, resulting in computation (and tools for).

The first spear throwing equiv’ was probably chasing (intercept, following) something and launching self at it. So the composite intention + object/ive = target.

But then a nasty look (throwing daggers) and two radar systems, one delivering and watching, the other noticeably receiving, there’s spear throwing of sorts in that.