Humans are apes that were taken from the womb one month early.

[chaska]

I left out one word 'like'. Humans are like apes...

I can't get this out of my head. Ever since reading it in 'The Sibling Society' by Robert Bly (highly recommended) I've been fairly haunted - well, I have. ;)

Apparently, some scientist noticed that we bear an uncanny resemblance to apes at 8 months in the womb. He says that this is the secret to our advanced development as a species. Apes' brains when they are born are 40% (I think) of their final size and the sutures in the skull harden at about 1 1/2 years. But the human brain is only 23% of its final size and the sutures don't harden until about 35 years of age.

He posits that it's only by leaving the womb early that we are able to develop to such an advanced degree.
And if we stayed another month in the womb we would get hairy and have a long chimp-like face. Our big toes would be able to grip like thumbs, etc. Cool sh*t.

The book is mainly about our adolescent society and the need for better fathers though. Great stuff in any case. He's a liberal, too.

Pick it up at your local lending library. (snicker)

[El Fuego]

1. If you look at the embryonic development photographically

You will see the whole history of evolution. Early on it's like a single cell organism. Soon, the embryo has what looks like gills. Later, a human embryo is visually indisguishable from a chicken embryo. It only makes sense that the fetus would pass through a chimp stage.

[Graf Orlok]

2. So George was in his mother's womb for an extra month?

:shrug:

:puke:

[jpgray]

3. Escape from Barb's Placenta

Sounds like a John Carpenter film.

[chaska]

4. YES, THAT'S IT!!! He's a shaved ape.

[LeftyMom]

5. Some kids are born a month late

including my son and two of my closest friend's younger siblings. Needless to say none of them resemble apes, they only differ from other kids in that all three are a bit hyper and easily overstimulated, but that could just be a quirk of the small sample.

Did he mean that might be the result if a 44 week gestation was the human norm?

[chaska]

6. No offense intended, of course. :^)

We are a different species, obviously. He's just saying that when we departed from apes this is in part how we did it.

[LeftyMom]

7. I kinda thought so

from your synopsis it sort of sounded like he thought kids that got a little extra cooking would come out a bit Planet of the Apes-ish. Maybe that's what all those induction-happy maternity care providers are afraid of? :shrug: