During the time period of this course I have really learned a lot about human evolution and how it came about. I believe that Natural Selection plays a huge part in how we as a human race have evolved. We see that this process played a role in an increase in brain size over time and how we choose to utilize this useful tool of a brain. Even though we don’t have to worry about this today we still worry about other things such as disease as stated in the lecture. The amount of diseases that have arouse within our life time and still continuing to introduce themselves is something that has evolved with us also. From man made diseases to the types we can get from just an infected tick. We now have the resources to handle some of these diseases that we face, but unfortunately not for all illnesses. It seems as if although we are evolving so are diseases and they will not decrease any time soon. There are cures being discovered every now and again but we are discovering them at a slower rate.
I also believe that we have evolved with the use of limbs. Throughout the semester we learned about how and what each specific thing was used for such as the palm of a hand and how they were used to have a close grip on trees and eyes to see the differences in textures, which both are needed to navigate. We have progressed to utilizing these things for multiple uses, especially in technology. I give the example of technology because it is something that has evolved and keeps evolving each day at a much faster pace than everything else. For example there were no telephones and things of that nature and now we have devices that we can simply place in our pockets, video chat all over the world with, etc. Technology plays a huge role in the way we interact with each other to where we really don’t rely on the original ways in which things get done.
Look at our environment! It looks entirely different because of infrastructure. We are now able to travel and navigate with automobiles instead of by foot. Meaning we have the option in which we want to move and how fast at that. What I’ve noticed though is as things progress we damage our world in so many other ways by polluting our air and not really caring for the environment. The easy way out of things is definitely starting to catch up with us. The world has now evolve but at what cost?
I truly believe that after taking this course that we really take for granted the opportunity to learn how humans have evolved and at which rates we have evolved compared to now. This day and age we have it very easy compared to back then. From where aggression stems from how tools are made has been an eye opener for me and I hope to continue learning about how we evolved and how we can better evolve.
I agree, this past module has really forced me to reflect on everything we have learned in this class so far. I completely agree with your stance on natural selection being one of the most influential factors on human’s continued evolution. I can imagine that the amount of brain stimulation we are used will increase gradually for quite some time. I feel that there will be a time where anthropologists would see a distinct difference in their current brain development as compared to the more recent past. Another large factor is our environment and our changes to it. Humans have impacted every aspect of the environment and now we can include environmental factors such as climate. It will be interesting to see how humans will adapt in the short term to climate change and in the long run.
Hello, Briana! I agree with your statement that this class really made us look back and actually think on how far we have evolved- it is a crazy thought when everything is laid out in front of you! Natural selection has played a huge roll in how humans are today. How our body functions and also how it looks all stems back to natural selection choosing the successful traits for survival. I liked how you pointed out the different use we now have for the palms of our hands. It’s fascinating to think that we used to climb trees and hang from branches with them. Now, we use them for basically anything else; carrying things, communicating with and using technology, cooking and eating too.
Hi Briana!
Your post was well thought out and I liked all of the perspectives you gave. It’s crazy to me how many resources we have with such new and improved technology now, yet diseases are still increasing by the minute. Us humans are evolving more and more each day, but so are these diseases that can be catastrophic. I thought it was really interesting how you said, “the easy way out of things is definitely starting to catch up with us. The world has now evolved but at what cost?”. I think this is a great point that needs more recognition. Yes the world is continuing to evolve in many wonderful ways, but humans also need to start doing a better job at looking out for one other and especially the environment before it’s too late.
I also mention humans using automobiles to get to places more often than walking on foot. Cars have allowed us to travel greater distances in shorter periods. This helps in connecting the world. I think it’s fantastic that technology is getting so advanced that now there are self-driving cars. I never would’ve thought that this technology would come this soon. This shows how humans are getting smarter, which is also showing that humans are evolving. I agree communication is also getting easier to do because of our modern technology. It’s great that we can connect with the world through our phones and computers without doing a lot of work. I agree that the medical field is also advancing too. We are able to cure a lot diseases that we weren’t able to in the past.
Hey Bri!
I definitely agree with so many things you’ve included in your post this week. I see that you’ve made some really great points about human evolution and how outside sources have impacted that. I specifically like you comment about the environment. I talked about climate change in my post but I did not mention how we as humans contribute to that. Although we are evolving we are contributing to climate change with infrastructure , cars, farming and much more.
I also agreed with you comment about technology. We have become so reliant on it to navigate through life and it has had a huge impact on how we evolve. Although this may seem efficient I worry that technology will replace a lot of physical and mental actions our bodies we made to do. Just as you stated in your post, as we evolve the environment, technology and diseases are actively moving with us. My hope is that we will be able to keep up and adapt to the changes that may arise because of these consistent changes.
Hey Briana!
I really enjoyed reading your blog post, and I liked how you started off with talking about natural selection and the role that it plays in evolution. It seems as if each hominin evolved because of natural selection. For example, the Neanderthals had to adapt to the ice age conditions and as a result they had different features than we do. It makes you wonder, if in the future our features will change as climate change worsens and we are forced to adapt to the changing conditions around us. I also like how you talked about the evolution of our environment and infrastructure over time. I also discussed this in my post, and I think that in regards to your question that there is still more evolving to be done because as we know we are always evolving. Also, like mentioned before, we will have to evolve to stay alive, so things around us are granted to change.
Great post! I agree that this class taught us a lot about human evolution and the importance of it. I never really thought too much about evolution, I just know we got here some type of way. Its interesting to see how much we are related are to primates but look completely different. I also, liked how you talked about how we use automobiles instead of foot. Another post talked about how the world is evolving so quick because we don’t have patience. I think the idea of the car shows that because not we are able to get to our destination a lot quicker.