Post by anguyen28 on Jul 10, 2016 5:43:10 GMT
1. Why is the theory of evolution so important in understanding how human beings behave?
2. Which questions do you think evolutionary theory cannot answer?
There is no doubt that we, Homo sapiens are the product of a long eventful evolutionary past. Theory of evolution is important in understand how human behave because we all came from the same origin (ancestors) as many other species. Thus, by knowing the nature of the process that produced us can we begin to understand the ways in which humans sometimes behave. Charles Darwin proposed that "Evolution by natural selection isn't so much about "fittest" or "strongest" or "best", but rather as contingently successful. (Darwin 101, 153). Even though Homo sapiens is the only hominid species in today world, many hominid fossil record from the past proven that several hominid lineages coexisting at a single point in time. This implied that new variations on the hominid potential were continually thrown out to compete in the ecological area, until one species emerged and somehow eliminate the competition. In the Genetic Connection video, it is said that The gene we share with rice, rhinos, or coral are among the most striking science for common heritage (The Genetic Connection). We share some genes with almost every living organism on earth yet we don't look like or behave like them. I believe the difference between human and others is the develop of the brain. Encephalization in human lineage after divergence from chimpanzee lineage make us different from them. Compared to the chimpanzee brain, the human brain is larger and certain brain regions have been particularly altered during human evolution. Our remarkable ability to create new realities in our minds enables us to perceive things that beyond the material accessible. For knowing how special we evolved will help us comprehend why our behaviors are so conflicted, yet versatile in every way.
It is to be said that Homo sapiens is the lone hominid in the world today, because they have been able to accommodate to a wide variety of circumstances since the change of Ice Age environments. Our species was eventually able to displace all other competitors in a rather short space of time due to its apparently rather recent acquisition of its unique cognitive mode. The subject on human brain, our cognition, the way we apprehend and process information about everything, is an ongoing process for science to study. Simple question like "what is consciousness" is rather subjective because we don't have a clear definition. The question of how we experience things as our consciousness is generated has been a very valuable driving force for scientists to study on how human brain works. The nature of our awareness also came in for question. At every basic level, all organism are "aware". But there is something very unusual about the human state of awareness, our "consciousness" that enable us to deconstruct and reform the world in our minds, rather than directly experience it. I would certainly agree that the origin of human awareness as we experience it is currently a question mark to science, and will be until we understand deeper about the electrochemical signals in the brain. On another note, human resilient and exception adaptation to the environment also come from some remarkable traits we possessed. These ideas raised on questions such as "What traits do Homo sapiens possess that has allowed them to last this long?" (Darwin 101, 158). Perhaps it is not all about adaptive but also how to accelerate certain traits to become their advantages.
Diem-Lane, Andrea, and David Christopher Lane. Darwin 101. Walnut: MSAC Philosophy Group, 2014. Print
Neuralsurfer. "THE GENETIC CONNECTION: Rice and Humans / The 25 Percent Association." YouTube. YouTube, 15 July 2013. Web. 09 July 2016.
2. Which questions do you think evolutionary theory cannot answer?
There is no doubt that we, Homo sapiens are the product of a long eventful evolutionary past. Theory of evolution is important in understand how human behave because we all came from the same origin (ancestors) as many other species. Thus, by knowing the nature of the process that produced us can we begin to understand the ways in which humans sometimes behave. Charles Darwin proposed that "Evolution by natural selection isn't so much about "fittest" or "strongest" or "best", but rather as contingently successful. (Darwin 101, 153). Even though Homo sapiens is the only hominid species in today world, many hominid fossil record from the past proven that several hominid lineages coexisting at a single point in time. This implied that new variations on the hominid potential were continually thrown out to compete in the ecological area, until one species emerged and somehow eliminate the competition. In the Genetic Connection video, it is said that The gene we share with rice, rhinos, or coral are among the most striking science for common heritage (The Genetic Connection). We share some genes with almost every living organism on earth yet we don't look like or behave like them. I believe the difference between human and others is the develop of the brain. Encephalization in human lineage after divergence from chimpanzee lineage make us different from them. Compared to the chimpanzee brain, the human brain is larger and certain brain regions have been particularly altered during human evolution. Our remarkable ability to create new realities in our minds enables us to perceive things that beyond the material accessible. For knowing how special we evolved will help us comprehend why our behaviors are so conflicted, yet versatile in every way.
It is to be said that Homo sapiens is the lone hominid in the world today, because they have been able to accommodate to a wide variety of circumstances since the change of Ice Age environments. Our species was eventually able to displace all other competitors in a rather short space of time due to its apparently rather recent acquisition of its unique cognitive mode. The subject on human brain, our cognition, the way we apprehend and process information about everything, is an ongoing process for science to study. Simple question like "what is consciousness" is rather subjective because we don't have a clear definition. The question of how we experience things as our consciousness is generated has been a very valuable driving force for scientists to study on how human brain works. The nature of our awareness also came in for question. At every basic level, all organism are "aware". But there is something very unusual about the human state of awareness, our "consciousness" that enable us to deconstruct and reform the world in our minds, rather than directly experience it. I would certainly agree that the origin of human awareness as we experience it is currently a question mark to science, and will be until we understand deeper about the electrochemical signals in the brain. On another note, human resilient and exception adaptation to the environment also come from some remarkable traits we possessed. These ideas raised on questions such as "What traits do Homo sapiens possess that has allowed them to last this long?" (Darwin 101, 158). Perhaps it is not all about adaptive but also how to accelerate certain traits to become their advantages.
Diem-Lane, Andrea, and David Christopher Lane. Darwin 101. Walnut: MSAC Philosophy Group, 2014. Print
Neuralsurfer. "THE GENETIC CONNECTION: Rice and Humans / The 25 Percent Association." YouTube. YouTube, 15 July 2013. Web. 09 July 2016.