Are humans REALLY at the top of the food chain?

[Captain_Amazing]

@elfkin477

I know that polar bears consider humans yummy so that probably does put them at our level on the food chain, but do orcas really snack on humans whenever they get the chance?

Well, I know that when I went to SeaWorld, Shamu was looking at me funny. Seriously, I don’t think people are preferred prey for either Polar Bears or Killer Whales.

[LonesomePolecat]

@msmith537

I always here statements that man is at the top of the food chain. Is that really so?

Well, Jeffrey Dahmer seemed to think he was at least one link higher …

… a long, long, long time ago, thirty years or more, I read remarks by an anthropologist who theorized that early humans survived not because of their superior intelligence but simply because major predators like lions and wolves didn’t like the taste of human flesh. They’d rather have nice, tasty venison than nasty old human meat and only turned maneater when they were too old and decrepit to catch anything else or when other game was scarce. Humbling thought, eh?

[Left_Hand_of_Dorkness]

@kingpengvin

My argument is that yes we are on the top, not because we can’t be eaten but due to the fact that while polar bears, lions, Tigers, and Sharks may eat people we have the ultimate advantage over them in how we choose what to eat.

If a tapeworm could reason, it would probably say that IT was at the top of the food chain because it had the ultimate advantage: it’s evolved to have a human being serve its every culinary need, delivering food to it three times a day, while keeping it safe and warm. Sure, every now and then a human kills a tapeworm–but then, every now and then a tapeworm kills a human. It all works out.

I think it’s a poorly-phrased question.

But I’m still not applying for a job at Seaworld. Just, y’know, in case.

Daniel

[Loopydude]

@kingpengvin

That puts us, as a collective, on top.

Aside from rare instances of predation of the kind you describe, and as mentioned above, we’re under constant attack from microbes, which, without our modern medicine and sanitation, our species, throughout history, could generally barely fend off past our reproductive years, if we made it that far. Beyond that, we’re food for worms and more of those microbes.

That’s not to say we don’t occupy a pretty special niche in the food web, but the whole idea of being “on top” of anything strikes me as just too simplistic. We are food for all kinds of organisms, though they appear humble. What they lack in stature they more than make up for in sheer numbers, and many of us still succumb to their assults on a regular basis. Are we “on top” or are they? Seems to me the whole concept of a vertical hierarchy fails all realistic application.

[Gangster_Octopus]

Yes, we are on top…and Americans are on the top of them all!! BWahahahaa!!

I keed, I keed

[davenportavenger]

@LonesomePolecat

… a long, long, long time ago, thirty years or more, I read remarks by an anthropologist who theorized that early humans survived not because of their superior intelligence but simply because major predators like lions and wolves didn’t like the taste of human flesh. They’d rather have nice, tasty venison than nasty old human meat and only turned maneater when they were too old and decrepit to catch anything else or when other game was scarce. Humbling thought, eh?

I’ve read that primate meat in general isn’t too appealing to most creatures, including humans. It’s mostly dark meat, and is really tough (because primates are active and wear out their bodies in ways cows don’t) and lacks natural flavor. I know there’s a few tribes that eat monkeys and even apes but in general primate meat isn’t a really popular choice even among gourmet diners, and I think the ethical concerns about eating monkeys are only part of it. So yeah, by extension human meat probably isn’t as tasty as fowl or cattle or sheep to predators.

I don’t think modern humans are even part of the food chain/web anymore. When you can genetically engineer your “prey” for taste and meat production and have weapons that can travel 50x faster than the top speed of your “prey,” that puts you to the level of a small god compared to other creatures. However, a human living in the wild without tools wouldn’t be at the top. We’re too small and slow; the only thing that keeps us ahead is intelligence (and by extension, technology).

[Left_Hand_of_Dorkness]

@continuity eror

I don’t think modern humans are even part of the food chain/web anymore.

Well, of course we’re part of the food chain/web. We eat, don’t we? We get et, don’t we? Our bodily waste gets et, don’t it?

The fact that we consciously manipulate the food supply is only one of our quirks as a species. It doesn’t lift us out of the grand cycle of life.

Daniel

[Loopydude]

@continuity eror

I’ve read that primate meat in general isn’t too appealing to most creatures, including humans. It’s mostly dark meat, and is really tough (because primates are active and wear out their bodies in ways cows don’t) and lacks natural flavor. I know there’s a few tribes that eat monkeys and even apes but in general primate meat isn’t a really popular choice even among gourmet diners, and I think the ethical concerns about eating monkeys are only part of it. So yeah, by extension human meat probably isn’t as tasty as fowl or cattle or sheep to predators.

Huh. I’ve read we taste like pork (which I find quite delicious when not overdone), but maybe that’s only true of chubby modern humans. Not being a big raw pig eater, it’s hard to guess what raw people would taste like, compared to other raw meat. Whatever our flavor to the well-fed, I would imagine on the eges of African forests and savannas, where our hominin forbears got their start, any food a creature could get and digest was good enough. I’m sure a big cat wouldn’t pass up a young baboon in the paw, even if baby gazelles in the bush could potentially be had with patience. Or a young human, if opportunity presented.

Man the Hunted might be an interesting read. It’s creepy to imagine a world where you live with the constant need for vigilance, in case some deadly animal or pack of animals decides to make a meal out of you. Maybe that’s why it feels so good to imagine ourselves on top!