Ever been walking and caught your toe on the ground and stumbled forward for a moment? Maybe you fell to the ground, maybe you caught your balance immediately and everything was fine after?
Regardless of how it turned out, you immediately looked back at that spot on the floor, didn't you?
Of course you did. This is the arrogance of humanity. Think about this: It took you (probably) somewhere between 12 and 18 months to learn how to walk. People who suffer spinal injuries lose the ability in an instant, and those who get it back have to re-learn and that takes a tremendous amount of time as well.
Think about how amazing it is that you can walk at all. How many other animals on the planet use two legs as their primary form of movement? There are lizards that run sometimes, ostriches (although the other birds all prefer to fly), maybe some kangaroos or hopping-rodents - but even those are primarily by hopping. There are approximately 6.5 million species on land. We can be generous and suggest that maybe 10 habitually, consistently move by walking or running on two feet. That means that if you're a living thing on Earth, you have about a 650,000:1 chance of being something that moves by walking. Pretty long odds.
Next, if you think about the mechanics of it, walking is outrageous. When a pigeon walks, you'll notice that its head jerks about with each step it takes. Why? Because pigeons are constantly strutting and are obnoxious, that's why. But also because it's a delicate act to balance weight on two feet while moving. But don't take my word for it, take someone smart, like Leonardo Da Vinci, who once said "The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art." And he knew stuff about engineering and works of art (as I've discussed at other points on this blog).
Why not look at this in a different way: Ever played the QWOP game? It's simple: You use four keys to control the runner - Q and W control the thighs while O and P control the calves. Pump them appropriately and your QWOPper will run 100 meters and win the Olympics for...some country. It's an oversimplified version of what's happening when you walk or run, as the game asks you to control just four body parts. A brief look at Google results suggests that it takes approximately 200 muscles to walk in real life, which is slightly more than four.
So go ahead and look back at the carpet monster that tripped you. There's not a bump in the floor or a mislaid tile or a little hand that came up to grab your shoe. It's just that walking is an unbelievably difficult thing to do when you break it down. So cheer up, because you probably won't be able to walk under your own power for the last few years of your life either, which makes it special that you ever could.
Oh, my best on QWOP was like 12 meters. Running is hard.
Regardless of how it turned out, you immediately looked back at that spot on the floor, didn't you?
Of course you did. This is the arrogance of humanity. Think about this: It took you (probably) somewhere between 12 and 18 months to learn how to walk. People who suffer spinal injuries lose the ability in an instant, and those who get it back have to re-learn and that takes a tremendous amount of time as well.
Think about how amazing it is that you can walk at all. How many other animals on the planet use two legs as their primary form of movement? There are lizards that run sometimes, ostriches (although the other birds all prefer to fly), maybe some kangaroos or hopping-rodents - but even those are primarily by hopping. There are approximately 6.5 million species on land. We can be generous and suggest that maybe 10 habitually, consistently move by walking or running on two feet. That means that if you're a living thing on Earth, you have about a 650,000:1 chance of being something that moves by walking. Pretty long odds.
Next, if you think about the mechanics of it, walking is outrageous. When a pigeon walks, you'll notice that its head jerks about with each step it takes. Why? Because pigeons are constantly strutting and are obnoxious, that's why. But also because it's a delicate act to balance weight on two feet while moving. But don't take my word for it, take someone smart, like Leonardo Da Vinci, who once said "The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art." And he knew stuff about engineering and works of art (as I've discussed at other points on this blog).
Why not look at this in a different way: Ever played the QWOP game? It's simple: You use four keys to control the runner - Q and W control the thighs while O and P control the calves. Pump them appropriately and your QWOPper will run 100 meters and win the Olympics for...some country. It's an oversimplified version of what's happening when you walk or run, as the game asks you to control just four body parts. A brief look at Google results suggests that it takes approximately 200 muscles to walk in real life, which is slightly more than four.
So go ahead and look back at the carpet monster that tripped you. There's not a bump in the floor or a mislaid tile or a little hand that came up to grab your shoe. It's just that walking is an unbelievably difficult thing to do when you break it down. So cheer up, because you probably won't be able to walk under your own power for the last few years of your life either, which makes it special that you ever could.
Oh, my best on QWOP was like 12 meters. Running is hard.
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