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Comment by avalys | Hacker News Reader

Is there any evidence for this other than a YouTube video from some guy claiming it’s true?

Did you not see his outfit?

Personally I think it is even absurd that someone needs to point this out in a video! As a kid in South America I used to walk 80% of the time barefoot or on sandals. It is clear that in such situation any faster movement needs to be done toe first. So, fighting, dancing, running, would be done toe first in such cultures. On the other hand, heel-first is more energy efficient, so you do that when walking slowly barefoot. It was modern shoes that allowed people to do everything heel-first.

I walked barefoot until I was about 10 (New Zealand lol). Toe-walking helped me avoid various hazards on the ground like prickles and stones.

I did the same as kid in NZ. No snakes or spiders to worry about, weather is mild, why not?

Now I heel-toe as I'm a dancer, but running is another story

We moved back to NZ where I grew up, and our kids went to a 50-person primary school with not a pair of shoes in sight. You learn where the patches of prickles are and avoid those bits of the grass. (Data point: the prickles are in the same places at the beach and community hall as they were 40 years ago when I were a lad)

I grew up in Coopers Beach, and did everything barefoot (including Rugby and school!)

In the video he says something to the effect that he learned this from a lecture by a medievalist. It's not his own personal theory.

I mean, it's Mental Floss...

Did you watch the video? It showed some evidence in the form of a painting depicting the walking style in question.

Paintings aren't really good evidence.

Note that until Muybridge did his first time-lapse photographs, pretty much every single painting of a horse in motion was grossly inaccurate.

Compare:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sallie_Gardner_at_a_Gallop

to:

http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/fox-hun...

The purpose of the shoot was to determine whether a galloping horse ever lifts all four feet completely off the ground during the gait; at this speed, the human eye cannot break down the action.

That’s ridiculously interesting, but is it really comparable to a walking speed human? Sounds more like an issue with the human eye than older paintings in general

I do think horses move their legs on a higher frequency than humans when running. But I am still not convinced they are too fast for seeing.

Horses galloped differently in the middle ages.

If you look at the middle right image and compare it to the painting it's not all that wrong. Note: horse on right it jumping, not simply running. @ 20 seconds: https://youtu.be/oLvAxzVeyLs

Well, I didn't say it was good evidence - but it's a start.

Are you trying to compare a horse jumping to a horse galloping?

True fact: Ancient egyptians also walked differently, there are paintings to prove it.

As documented in that Bangles song.

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