What made us live in a house?

[Sphinx777]

A house is generally a shelter or building or structure that is a dwelling or place for habitation by human beings. The term includes many kinds of dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to high-rise apartment buildings. In some contexts, "house" may mean the same as dwelling, residence, home, abode, lodging, accommodation, or housing, among other meanings.

The social unit that lives in a house is known as a household. Most commonly, a household is a family unit of some kind, though households can be other social groups, such as single persons, or groups of unrelated individuals. Settled agrarian and industrial societies are composed of household units living permanently in housing of various types, according to a variety of forms of land tenure. English-speaking people generally call any building they routinely occupy "home". Many people leave their houses during the day for work and recreation, and return to them to sleep or for other activities.

 

[juvenissun]

How about: It was an evolutionary advantage.

You can see for yourself, humans lack a lot of fur, thick layers of blubber, scales, etc etc etc for keeping the elements at bay. So being able to build a shelter and stay in one would confer *gasp* an advantage in NOT DYING OF EXPOSURE!

Wooo.

Metherion

I always wonder: why didn't human develop cave as a normal dwelling place (like one in the movie Lord of Ring). It should be the most logical way to make a house based on evolution theory. In fact, I prefer to live in an underground "house" rather than a normal house above the ground.

What is the evolutionary advantage for building an above-surface house?

 

[Willtor]

I always wonder: why didn't human develop cave as a normal dwelling place (like one in the movie Lord of Ring). It should be the most logical way to make a house based on evolution theory. In fact, I prefer to live in an underground "house" rather than a normal house above the ground.

What is the evolutionary advantage for building an above-surface house?

Isn't that the subject of another thread? Before we move on to other topics, are your initial questions from this thread answered? If not, we should continue on with them.

 

[Mallon]

I always wonder: why didn't human develop cave as a normal dwelling place (like one in the movie Lord of Ring). It should be the most logical way to make a house based on evolution theory.

Why?

 

[Assyrian]

I suppose he thinks Hobbit holes evolved from caves, given our ancestors lived in trees, Lothlórien would make more sense,

if houses could reproduce and evolve that is.

 

[juvenissun]

I suppose he thinks Hobbit holes evolved from caves, given our ancestors lived in trees, Lothlórien would make more sense,

if houses could reproduce and evolve that is.

Thanks. Very much so. I would expect some apes have figured out something like that in the past few (15?) million years.

Somebody answer this: Many birds can build a tree "house", why not apes? Is the evolutional advantage of having a house illusive? We probably have cave man in the history. Why don't we see some cave apes?

 

[juvenissun]

Isn't that the subject of another thread? Before we move on to other topics, are your initial questions from this thread answered? If not, we should continue on with them.

I think it is a part of the same question. A house could be in the ground, on the ground or above the ground. Many animals live in tunnels. What happened (evolution?) to us so that few of us do that any more. (remember VietCong? They did that and they won the war.)

 

[metherion]

Why would it have to be a cave? I mean, sure, humans living along the mountains probably used caves for a while but there aren't caves everywhere. Certainly not all along the African savannahs.

Metherion

 

[Sphinx777]

Underground living refers simply to living below the ground's surface, whether in naturally occurring caves or in built structures.

Besides obvious novelty, underground living offers additional benefits when compared to living in traditional buildings, such as a nearly constant comfortable temperature without the need for additional insulation, quiet, resistance to hurricanes, tornadoes and most weapon systems and the unobtrusiveness of such buildings on the landscape. One of the greatest advantages is energy efficiency. The stable subsurface temperature of the Earth saves around 80% in energy costs. If married to solar design, the energy bill can be completely eliminated. Additionally, the noise insulation of the surrounding earth makes underground homes exceptionally quiet, and with a smaller surface area, fewer building materials are used. However underground living can be easily affected by flooding and sometimes special pumping equipment is necessary.

Underground living has been a feature of fiction, such as the hobbit holes of the Shire as described in the stories of J. R. R. Tolkien and The Underground City by Jules Verne. It is also the preferred mode of housing to communities in such extreme environments as Australia's Coober Pedy, Berber caves as those in Matmâta, Tunisia, and even Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Underground living is even being considered for the design of a future base on Mars.

Often, underground living structures are not entirely underground, typically if they are exposed on one side when built into a hill. This exposure can significantly improve interior lighting, although at the expense of greater exposure to the elements.

 

[EnemyPartyII]

Why do burrowing owls live in burrows while other owls don't? Does that mean they aren't owls?

Why do some wasps live in communal constructed hives and others are solitary hunters? Does that mean they aren't really wasps?

 

[Bombila]

just here to post this link: chimpanzees using caves.

Chimps Use Caves to Beat the Heat, Scientists Find

 

[Assyrian]

Isn't that what they call the chimp species, cave dweller: pan troglodytes?

 

[Willtor]

I think it is a part of the same question. A house could be in the ground, on the ground or above the ground. Many animals live in tunnels. What happened (evolution?) to us so that few of us do that any more. (remember VietCong? They did that and they won the war.)

Then you've answered your own question. Some people _have_ used underground dwellings when it was beneficial for them to do so.

 

[juvenissun]

Why would it have to be a cave? I mean, sure, humans living along the mountains probably used caves for a while but there aren't caves everywhere. Certainly not all along the African savannahs.

Metherion

So, don't live there. It is a similar situation that we seldom live in mountain area today.

 

[juvenissun]

Underground living refers simply to living below the ground's surface, whether in naturally occurring caves or in built structures.

Besides obvious novelty, underground living offers additional benefits when compared to living in traditional buildings, such as a nearly constant comfortable temperature without the need for additional insulation, quiet, resistance to hurricanes, tornadoes and most weapon systems and the unobtrusiveness of such buildings on the landscape. One of the greatest advantages is energy efficiency. The stable subsurface temperature of the Earth saves around 80% in energy costs. If married to solar design, the energy bill can be completely eliminated. Additionally, the noise insulation of the surrounding earth makes underground homes exceptionally quiet, and with a smaller surface area, fewer building materials are used. However underground living can be easily affected by flooding and sometimes special pumping equipment is necessary.

Underground living has been a feature of fiction, such as the hobbit holes of the Shire as described in the stories of J. R. R. Tolkien and The Underground City by Jules Verne. It is also the preferred mode of housing to communities in such extreme environments as Australia's Coober Pedy, Berber caves as those in Matmâta, Tunisia, and even Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Underground living is even being considered for the design of a future base on Mars.

Often, underground living structures are not entirely underground, typically if they are exposed on one side when built into a hill. This exposure can significantly improve interior lighting, although at the expense of greater exposure to the elements.

Thanks.

So, if evolution were true, human should have developed the underground living environment much more extensively than we know, according to the idea of so-called "niche". Or, according to Assyrian's idea, tree houses.

Interestingly, that we have seen both been described in fiction movies.

 

[juvenissun]

Isn't that what they call the chimp species, cave dweller: pan troglodytes?

Your vocabulary is impressive, at least to me.

Think about it: For millions of years, animals continuously live underground. Why then all of a sudden, human started to build on the open surface? Is this an example of the disequilibrium(?) evolution? (I forgot some words I already know )

 

[theFijian]

Thanks.

So, if evolution were true, human should have developed the underground living environment much more extensively than we know, according to the idea of so-called "niche". Or, according to Assyrian's idea, tree houses.

Interestingly, that we have seen both been described in fiction movies.

How common do you think habitable caves are? Have you hear of Guayadeque in the canary islands?

 

[Willtor]

So, don't live there. It is a similar situation that we seldom live in mountain area today.

Thanks.

So, if evolution were true, human should have developed the underground living environment much more extensively than we know, according to the idea of so-called "niche". Or, according to Assyrian's idea, tree houses.

Interestingly, that we have seen both been described in fiction movies.

This is surreal.

If, indeed, it is better to live in a cave or a tree-house, why don't you do it? Seriously. Go live there and let us know how much better your life is than it is now.

 

[Assyrian]

But first you have to dig out your cave, without metal shovels of course, and hope it doesn't collapse on you in the middle of the night, or you could domesticate beavers to cut down trees and trim them into planks to shore up the roof of the cave.
That is the problem with evolving Lothlórien too, you need planks to build a tree house, not to mention a hammer and nails. In the mean time, kids falling out of bed can be a big problem

Rock a bye baby in the tree top...

 

[juvenissun]

How common do you think habitable caves are? Have you hear of Guayadeque in the canary islands?

Not common enough. Way way far from enough. It should be as common as houses in a village at every villages.

Thanks for the link.