(* A comprehensive study by lead researcher A . Navarrette – published in Nature magazine in November of 2011 – soundly rejected the “ meat as human brain developer ” theory , concluding after rigorous examination & testing that “ human encephalization [ i . e . brain development ] was made possible by a combination of factors ”; including the stabilization of food sources , a redirection of caloric energy via the use of a more efficient two-legged upright form of locomotion , as well as shifts in the overall human dynamics related to growth and reproduction " … In addition , the theory that we have only evolved as a species via hunting , aggression and violence is an outmoded one at best . Actually , it is far more likely that we were able to survive and thrive as a species because we were the hunted , not the hunters . Consider the wisdom of Robert Sussman , PhD : “ Our intelligence , cooperation and many other features we possess as modern humans developed from our attempts to out-smart predators … [ The idea of humans as hunters ] developed from a basic Judeo-Christian ideology of man being inherently evil , aggressive and a natural killer . In fact , when you actually examine the fossil and living non-human primate evidence , that is simply not the case .” … Finally , considering the fact that the human brain ’ s neurons run on glucose – and not the protein & fat found in animal flesh & animal secretions – consider the words of Peter Ungar , professor & chair of anthropology at the University of Arkansas : “ The argument is that meat eating provided the calories needed to power other parts of the body , freeing available carbohydrates to focus on the brain … Even in that case , it ’ s the carbs eaten before , with and after the meat that powered the brain , not the meat itself .”)
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