Long Human Childhood Enables Cultural Learning

Humans have a far longer ontogeny than other apes—youngsters in hunter-gatherer groups don't produce more calories than they consume until around age 16—and this extended dependency is dangerous and costly for both children and investing parents, so it must serve a function: providing time to learn, socially coordinate, and become a member of a culture that transmits the accumulated knowledge enabling humans to live in environments like the Arctic where an unaided individual would quickly die.