[ExI] ai is the easy road

[Ben Zaiboc]

On Sunday, 18 October 2026 at 13:23, spike at rainier66.com <spike at rainier66.com> wrote:

> On 17/10/2026 22:35, John K Clark wrote:
> > Yes but I don't see why Bipedal walking would be better at endurance than
> quadratic walking, if anything the reverse would seem more likely to me.
> 
> 
> >...I've wondered this myself before, but it seems to be true. I put it to
> the test, years ago, with a friend's dog. ...
> 
> Dogs don't do as well in the heat because their primary heat loss mechanism
> is evaporation off of the lungs.  Their panting isn't from running short of
> breath, but from needing to cool.
> 
> >...Perhaps quadripeds are better at speed, but humans seem better adapted
> for steady, long-distance running. Perhaps there's a psychological aspect as
> well. I think wolves can patiently trot and wear prey down in a similar
> way...
> 
> Wolf packs can work together to benefit each other and (maybe) other wolf
> packs using the mechanism I wrote about earlier.  The notion of trotting to
> save energy is compelling, but they are still range limited because of the
> configuration of the legs.  If you look at a dog's hind leg, it almost looks
> like it is on there backwards, with the knee bending the wrong way.  But
> once you look closely, you realize their "knees" and "ankles" are analogous
> to ours, with differing proportions.  Their foot is much longer, then their
> joint where our knee is located is actually the joint analogous to our
> ankle.  Their knee bends the same way ours does.
> 
> The consequence of this configuration is that they stand much less
> efficiently than we do: it would be analogous to our standing on the toes.
> Tense muscles use energy even if they are not doing any work.  Dogs use more
> energy just standing than we do.
> 
> Note that dogs just process a lot of energy.  If you have one, note the
> weight of the food you must lug around compared to their own weight, then
> recognize they generally eat dry food, analogous to our backpacking food,
> which is designed to be light.  If your pampered pet gets canned food
> (analogous to ours), note the ratio of food weight to dog weight.
> 
> >... so maybe it's just that most prey animals are wired to run off as fast
> as possible, which wears them out quickly... Ben
> 
> Or overheats them.  Think scale.  If you scale up a beast, its volume to
> surface ratio scales up linearly.
> 
> >...Looking at the biomechanics, being tall, with 2 legs, might be more
> efficient for running than being short with 4 legs. With bipeds, gravity
> does some of the work, which is not so with quadrupeds, or a lot less so....
> 
> Since we are considering what mutation came first, one could plausibly
> suggest the locking knee.  With the knee straight, humans can stand and walk
> very efficiently: no muscles need to be continuously locked.  The other
> great apes do not have the locking knee.
> 
> I knew a girl who was born without locking knees.  She could walk but only
> short distances and it was exhausting for her because the large thigh
> muscles were always working.


Aha, yes, locking knee. Good one. That, plus leg anatomy, plus...

It's probably a combination of factors, then. Biomechanical ones plus heat loss. And possibly psychological ones too.