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Why Aren’t Humans Furry? Because stone-age moms ignored ugly hairy babies

People often think that I make up some of the things that I tell them. Suppose I told you that the reason humans are the only hairless apes is because mothers in the stone age used to ignore ugly hairy babies and favor the pretty hairless ones if there needed to be a choice. Would you believe me? Well, a respectable, award-winning paper is saying so. And I have the links to prove it.

Harris’ paper describes Stone Age societies in which the mother of a newborn had to decide whether she had the resources to nurture her baby. The newborn’s appearance probably influenced whether the mother kept or abandoned it. An attractive baby was more likely to be kept and reared.

Harris’ theory is that this kind of parental selection may have been an important force in evolution. If Stone Age people believed that hairless babies were more attractive than hairy ones, this could explain why humans are the only apes lacking a coat of fur. Harris suggests that Neanderthals must have been furry in order to survive the Ice Age. Our species would have seen them as “animals” and potential prey. Harris’ hypothesis continues that Neanderthals went extinct because human ancestors ate them.

See full article. You can also see the original paper.

Recording your kid’s promises with a digital camera: Parent Hacks | Parenting tips

If your kids tend to forget their promises, this might help:

My husband came up with the idea of using the video function on our digital camera to record her promising not to get upset when we say “no” to candy later because we’re letting her have a piece early. It worked! We’ve started doing it other times, too. She loves the digital camera, and it reminds her about the whole “delayed gratification” thing.

Educate your kids with Google Video

Kim’s husband introduced their toddler to the wonders of Google Video:

My husband was searching Google Video for different animal videos (child-friendly ones - hence no SHARK ATTACKS SURFER ones). Our son was in a trance, and he learned the difference between a shark, a whale and a dolphin, he got to see deer, penguins, brown bears, etc. — it was like watching National Geographic personalized and up close.

Our son’s absolute favorite was Matrix Cow - very funny rendition of a cow in a Matrix-style fight - he laughs so hard from the moment the cow snorts and jumps on his back two legs. I have to agree it was pretty funny the first time or two - but he got a bit too attached to this one… “AGAIN, do cow AGAIN”.