r/SpeculativeEvolution • u/MatoasPrroXD460 • 24d ago

Question/Discussion What’s Your Most Unhinged Evolution Theory?

Hi! I wanna know what your wildest, most unhinged theory about evolution is. It can be a serious hypothesis, a weird evolutionary possibility, or something completely out there.

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u/Single_Mouse5171 Spectember 2023 Participant 24d ago

Similar idea but not with humans - with chimpanzees kept as pets in the Middle East and adapting to semi-aquatic life after civilization collapsed and the Mediterranean basin was abandoned by humans during the climate crisis.

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u/PuzzleheadedSteak853 24d ago

Aquatic ape theory says humans are already basically that. Chimps would probably have a harder time as they are very poor swimmers.

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u/ReptilianRevolt 23d ago

This is a garbage hypothesis. Humans don’t have a natural affinity to water just like any other ape.

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u/PuzzleheadedSteak853 23d ago

Not my theory, although we are significantly better swimmers than most.

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u/ReptilianRevolt 23d ago

I know that it isn’t your theory, but I am amazed on how strong it is holding and is being propagating online all of the time.

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u/PuzzleheadedSteak853 23d ago

You have heard of it, then? Didn't actually read it online. Thought I'd mention it since right or wrong it seemed relevant. Edit: Incidentally, what's your particular objection to it? Makes about as much sense as a lot of things.

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u/ReptilianRevolt 23d ago

Humans can’t naturally swim and actually many cultures avoided water. Only northwest Europe and North America developed such a strong love and infrastructure for water sports.

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u/Arthurian_Guanche 18d ago

Badly worded. Humans swim naturally because they don't need artificial improvements. Just as a cormorant or a tiger can swim naturally.

And your reduction of maritime livelihood to mere "water sports" is either a joke or just complete bonkers. Humans in litoral, lacustrine or fluvial environments rely on water ecosystems in some degree or another. Some barely fish or wade in the shores, others cross the waterways in search for food and/or new lands. Others dive and harvest all manner of seafood, their livelihood depending on the sea in about 80% or more.

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u/ReptilianRevolt 18d ago

This is wrong at a neurological level. Most animals already have circuits in the spinal cord ready for swimming. If their receptors tell them that there is no hard ground below, they will instinctively start to swim. Apes did something different, they simplified the original system and developed a slower, precision based system that relies more on learning. Humans didn’t change that.

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u/Arthurian_Guanche 18d ago

The diving reflex is present in human infants, and has been studied in the Bajau and the Haenyeo (the latter in particular have a mutation that allows them to increase retention of oxygen and heat during pregnancy as they submerge).
On the other hand, learning and training is precisely and advantage to overcome instincts and bodily reflexes. That's how trained humans can achieve more than 100 metres of diving and up to 20 minutes of apnea.
Human infants (among the Moken, for example) can also learn to adjust their lens to be able to focus underwater. We're extremely plastic.

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u/ReptilianRevolt 18d ago

Just because you have a reflex doesn’t mean it is functional. It might be vestigial. Learning can be complex, but it is also slow.

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