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But stepping out onto theopen savanna also clearly left the early hominids much more exposed. An uprighthominid could see better, but could also be seen better. Even now as a species,we are almost preposterously vulnerable in the wild. Nearly every large animalyou can care to name is stronger, faster, and toothier than us. Faced withattack, modern humans have only two advantages. We have a good brain, withwhich we can devise strategies, and we have hands with which we can fling orbrandish hurtful objects. We are the only creature that can harm at a distance.We can thus afford to be physically vulnerable.
但是，走向開闊的草原，早期人科動物顯然更暴露自己。直立行走的人科動物看得更清楚，但也被看得更清楚。即使是現在，作為一個物種，我們在野外會幾乎荒唐地感到不安全。我們叫得出名字的大型動物差不多都比我們的身體要強壯，動作要快，牙齒要鋒利。面對攻擊，現代人類只有兩種優勢。我們有發育良好的大腦，可以想出對付的辦法；我們有靈巧的雙手，可以投擲或揮舞具有殺傷力的東西。我們是惟一能在一定距離內殺傷敵人的動物，因而也是不怕受到攻擊的動物。
All the elements wouldappear to have been in place for the rapid evolution of a potent brain, and yetthat seems not to have happened. For over three million years, Lucy and herfellow australopithecines scarcely changed at all. Their brain didn't grow andthere is no sign that they used even the simplest tools. What is stranger stillis that we now know that for about a million years they lived alongside otherearly hominids who did use tools, yet the australopithecines never tookadvantage of this useful technology that was all around them.
一切因素似乎都有利于大腦的迅速進化，但那種情況似乎并沒有發生。在300多萬年的時間里，露西和她的南方古猿同伴們兒乎沒有發生任何變化。他們的腦容量并沒有增大，也沒有任何跡象表明他們使用過一種哪怕最為簡單的工具。更為奇怪的是，我們現在知道，與他們一起生存了將近100萬年的其他早期人科動物曾經使用過工具，而南方古猿卻從未利用他們周圍的這些有用的技術。
