As a human biology major, I come across the topics of evolution and human variation in all of my required classes. Evolution is the change of different traits of species over many generations. Human variation is the different characteristics of human beings. In my classes, we learn mostly about Charles Darwin’s natural selection, biodiversity, genetics, symbiosis, and more that play a part in evolution and human variation. Also, I had seen evolution in my other classes such as history, anthropology, and sociology. 

One particular experience that comes to my mind was in the fall of 2018, I had taken a senior seminar class called NCS 495. This class was mainly focused on modern day medical problems. For the first half of the semester, we spent our time reviewing a book called “Paleofantasy: What Evolution Really Tells Us About Sex, Diet, and How We Live .” Then after we wrote a book review. The information I provided comes from the book review.The book debunks beliefs of that humans have stopped evolving, as well as that modern day humans are biologically the same as our caveman ancestors. The paleo diet is a diet that humans are strictly only allowed to consume foods that were available during the Paleolithic era. Many who participate in the diet believe we are biologically the same as our ancestors, so we can consume the same diet as they did in the Paleolithic era. For example, grains and legumes are prohibited from the diet. Many say our caveman ancestors were limited to only wild plants and animal foods. However, studies have been done to prove that our ancestors did consume grains. Such as finding different tools that had a starch coating on them. Grains and legumes are needed in our diet to provide a source of energy for our bodies. This diet does not seem reasonable for modern day humans. We need things such as grains for our bodies to break down into glucose, and provide the energy we need for our bodies.. As we evolved from our ancestors, our environment, diet, physiology, biology, and resources had changed based on new discoveries made in each era. This particular class made me understand evolution and human variation in a more modern day view, because we learn more about how we physically and genetically evolved. However, the class has taught me why evolution has played a part in our modern day lives and how we came to be as humans. 

I learned a substantial amount of evolution and human variation in my science and non science classes. The information from the readings and videos have already been touched in other classes. So, the readings and videos this week did not make me think about my major in a different light. However, the readings and videos had provided a nice refresher on these topics I had learned earlier in college, more specific details on certain topics in evolution, and lastly more about evolution and human variation in an anthropologist’s point of view.