Short-Term Consequences of Long-Term Evolutionary Benefits:

Over the long-term, bipedal locomotion provides such a profound evolutionary advantage that it outweighs even significant negative consequences to the individual. In fact, many of the most common medical complaints of modern humans relate directly to the physiological realities of the transition of anatomical systems originally designed for quadruped locomotion to the later evolution of bipedalism. Chronic lower back pain, for example, afflicts approximately 80% of the human population. According to physiologists, this is a direct function of the changed role of a spinal column originally designed as an arched support connecting two sets of load-bearing limbs to a vertically- loaded column supporting the compression load required by the shift to bipedalism.

Likewise, the transition to the narrower hips necessary for efficient bipedal locomotion is the source of significant potential problems affecting the connective tissues, particularly in the knee. Specifically, the change in angle...
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