The Intense 8 Hour Hunt | Attenborough Life of Mammals | BBC Earth

[VIDEO] This is a video of human hunters (Koi San, an African ethnic group that has been pushed to extinction over the last millennia by the Bantu tribes) chasing down a kudu antelope. Antelope are great runners, but they can't cool themselves as efficiently as humans. It's a beautiful video, and the way the hunter reacts after the kill is very moving.

The San Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert still do this today. This BBC clip on persistence hunting (narrated by David Attenborough!) is worth a watch; their endurance is absolutely incredible: [VIDEO]

Check this remarkable video on persistence hunting in the kalahari - a hunter literally chases a buck until it's completely exhausted. [VIDEO]

Either that -- or our perception of morality is wrong. Maybe it's okay to eat animals as long as we treat them well. After all if they live a long happy and decently full life that's what really counts right? I think this video really gives a good idea of how humanity used to think of hunting and eating animals: [VIDEO] We've really lost touch with our empathy for other creatures In the old days people would respect the animal, hug it after killing it... on some level I think animals understand that their own death is a part of life.

There's the loci method for memorization: The method of loci (loci being Latin for "places") is a method of memory enhancement which uses visualizations with the use of spatial memory, familiar information about one's environment, to quickly and efficiently recall information. The method of loci is also known as the memory journey, memory palace, or mind palace technique. Many memory contest champions claim to use this technique to recall faces, digits, and lists of words. These champions' successes have little to do with brain structure or intelligence, but more to do with using spatial memory and the use of the method of loci. [LINK] Correlations have been found between memory and the playing of 3D video games, which also utilize our spatial memory. (Though wandering around in a video game is probably a subpar surrogate for doing the same thing in meatspace.) [LINK] I also recommend this BBC video of a persistence hunter tracking and running down a Kudu, just as an illustration of how walking/running, language/tracking, spatial memory, and planning/creativity are all tied together as a system that was once necessary for our survival: [VIDEO]

Interesting video here of one of the San people running down a Kudu which collapses from exhaustion after an 8 hour chase: [VIDEO] . Hard to compare this to Sorokin because the hunter is running in veld, not on a road, and has far less access to refueling points. Also, if he fails to track the prey down on day one, he would probably have a go again on day two, maybe even day three. Interesting claims too, that as an upright runner which sweats from glands all over his body, and as a creature capable of carrying water, man may have had persistence advantages over creatures with less ability to cool themselves and which run on four legs - a less energy efficient mode of running according to Attenborough.

> I am inclined to think we're built to go for a walk to a hunting ground, sprint and throw an arrow. The adaption to bipedalism actually reduced our sprinting capabilities and increased our endurance. It's likely that we used our superior endurance to chase down our prey over long distances far before we had arrows. See [VIDEO]

"We’re the tortoises of the animal kingdom" ... That might be the deepest thing I've ever read. Also, here's Attenborough narrating this article [VIDEO]