As we come to the end of this course, I found this course to be extremely interesting and intriguing. I never thought much about human evolution until. I think me and most people just think we got here some type of way but never put too much thought into how we and animals have evolved into what we are today. Its interesting to learn how everyone is related in some type of way. We have different cultures, backgrounds, races, etc. however, we are very similar. Anthropologists and scientists look at different ways that have caused the continuation of evolution. Due to genetic drift, natural selection, and mutations.
Genetic drift is the idea that small populations are more prone to drift than larger populations due to the fact, small populations change a lot faster. other things, like disease and war can cause a reduction in population, which can result in genetic drift. Another example, is the Amish, they can cause a generic drift because they only mate in their culture. These all, can cause genetic drift and therefore, have a effect on human evolution.
Secondly, natural selection plays a role in why humans are still evolving. We have evolved certain traits, that have allowed us to continue to survive. Also, the use of technology has allowed us to evolve. In the past, diseases have reduced populations due to the fact that treatments weren’t as good as they are now and the ability of some to fight them and others could not. Genes also, played a role in diseases and how good you were able to fight it. Today, we have technology and different treatments that have helped increase the chances of fighting a disease. Another example of technology and treatments have continued human evolution is for those, that couldn’t reproduce. There are now different treatments to help for those that can’t and this helps some reproduce, while some unable to access these treatments.
Lastly mutations, are another reason as to while human evolving keeps occurring. Mutations bring new traits into a population. There will always be mutations, but mutations are not a fast process for a large population. Well, mutations act to bring new traits into populations. It would be interesting to see generations in the future that would have completely different genes than we have now. Just like we have different genes from the primates from thousand years ago.
Hi, Alexis. I also found this course interesting and touched on most of the things that you touched on in this post in my own Week 7 blog. I think gene flow and natural selection are the core to evolution. I believe it always has been that way and will always continue to work that way. I remember that after I learned about natural selection and Darwinism how I looked at the world so differently and I saw the points he made in everything. Evolution now make so much sense when you consider in the context of natural selection, as I think most people do now. It also makes sense with the concept of gene flow, which you pointed out and explained really well in your writing. It is interesting to think about how human will look and act thousands of years down the line. Good job on this post.
Hi Alexis!
I really enjoyed your blog post because I had many of the same musings in my own reflection. I too feel as though many people do not care enough about the specifics of human evolution to study it in depth themselves. There seems to be a prevalent notion that evolution is as simple as the standard depiction of the quadrupedal ape animorphing its way into becoming a bipedal, modern human. This, however, as we have deeply studied in this course, is not nearly as simple in actuality. We are continuously learning of new species who bring us closer to understanding human evolution which highlights the fact that we may never truly have all the figurative puzzle pieces in the right sequence, so long as we are making new discoveries. Your explanation of the ways in which we continue to evolve to this day makes it remarkably clear that modern humans are certainly not the end of the line when it comes to evolution. There are small, gradual changes seen through mutations and adaptations which may soon become the new standard for humans, which would then, in theory, make us a completely different species in actuality.
Hey Alexis! I too found this class to be really interesting! I did not have much background knowledge on evolution but now I see how it is such an important part of our lives and how we got to be where we are today. I like how you discuss how natural selection affects the way in which humans continue to evolve. Diseases that we could not prevent or treat in the past, now have cures thanks to our evolution of medicine and technology. Our genes also play a part in diseases and how our bodies are able or unable to fight them off. As you said, today we have the medicine and technology to help increase the chances of fighting off diseases which is truly incredible.
Hello,
I think you touched on some good points as the prompt required. I think its more interesting to see what people personally think about the various topics and ideas in the course. I think that’s a more interesting and productive way to gather opinions and create new ideas. So I was quite interested when I started reading your opening paragraph/statement. I was a bit bored once I started reading the actual information again because I was less interested in the info, and more interested on what your individual thoughts were regarding said info. However, I cant really blame you or be too critical considering you did what was asked of you. I just wanted to throw my two cents out there so I hope you don’t take it wrong. Nice work overall though.
I agree with you, before this class I never really looked at fine details of evolution: I knew of evolution and I can picture the chart of chimpanzees eventually turning into humans and before this class that’s all the knowledge I had. This class has provided me with intriguing information as well as sound evidence that shows we adapted from groups of chimpanzees. Before this class I thought race was a sound biological variation between humans and to realize that genetically and biologically, there is no evidence supporting race. That we actually have more variation between each other from the same background than two separate races. This could be because of genetic drift, when populations break off and isolate themselves they are more prone to variation. Disease and war do play a role in those smaller populations and then those results trickle down into their reproducing children.
Hi,
I too found this course extremely interesting and intriguing. As a business major I never thought I would be taking a class about physical anthropology, but here I am! I took this class to understand the backgrounds of humans to maybe help my understanding of how we interact with each other to further my business relation experience. I too found the idea of natural selection very fascinating. I enjoyed how it plays a role in how humans continue to evolve and am wondering if we will really see a more diverse human in the future. I also found that your writing of mutations was interesting as mutations will constantly make new species and new evolutions of human genes possible. Maybe one day we will adapt genes to make humans live forever.