Charles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist who was born in Shrewsbury, England on February 12, 1809. He was the second youngest of six children. Before Charles Darwin, there were many scientists throughout his family. His father, Dr. Robert Darwin, was a medical doctor, and his grandfather, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, was a well-known botanist. Darwin’s mother, Susannah Darwin, died when he was only eight years old. Darwin was a child that came from wealth and privilege and who loved to explore nature. In October 1825 at age sixteen, Darwin enrolled at Edinburgh University with his brother Erasmus. Two years later, Charles became a student at Christ’s College in Cambridge. His father wanted him to become a medical doctor, as he was, but since the sight of blood made Darwin nauseous, he refused. His father also proposed that he become a priest, but since Charles was far more interested in natural history, he had other ideas in mind (Dao, 2009) At Christ’s College, Darwin had a professor named John Stevens Henslow who in time became his mentor. After Darwin graduated Christ’s College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1831, Henslow recommended him for a naturalist’s position aboard the HMS Beagle.The HMS Beagle was a ship that was to take a five year long trip around the world. Charles Darwin took the opportunity knowing that the up close experience with collecting natural specimen would teach and interest him greatly. Darwin uncovered many unknown thoughts about the specimens he discovered during his journey (Price, 2006). Other naturalists believed that all species either came into being at the start of the world, or were created over the course of natural history. Darwin however, noticed similarities among species all over the globe... ... middle of paper ... ...trieved from http://www.discovery.org/a/9501 Shultz, D. (2012, November 16). Mental Disorders and Evolution: What would Darwin Say About Schizophrenia. Your Health. Narvaez, D. (2011). Evolutionary Theory's Importance. Psychology Today. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/moral-landscapes/201105/evolutionary-theorys-importance-careful-the-baseline Luskin, C. (2012, August 17). Darwinian Philosophy: "Darwinian Natural Selection is the Only Process that could Produce the Appearance of Purpose". Evolution News. Retrieved from http://www.evolutionnews.org/2012/08/blind_darwinian063311.html Ekman, P. (2009). Darwin's Contributions to Our Understanding of Emotional Expressions.Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. Hess, U., & Thibault, P. (2009). Darwin and Emotion Expression. American Psychologist, 2, 120-124. doi:10.1037/a0013386
Zhao, Buyun. "Charles Darwin & Evolution." Charles Darwin & Evolution. Christ's College, 2009. Web. 04 May 2014.
Darwin in 1872 put forth the notion that emotional expressions are inborn and involuntary displays of one’s inner state (1). Darwin developed this ideology further and proposed what is now known as the Inhibition hypothesis (1). This two pronged theory describes the relation of emotion to facial muscle activation, more commonly known as facial expressions (1). The theory states that (a) specific facial muscles can not be intentionally engaged when the genuine emotion is lacking and (b) certain muscles can not be inhibited when a genuine emotion is experienced - it has been noted that this emotion must be particularly intense (Porter and ten Brinke, 2008; Porter, ten Brinke, & Wallace, 2011).
However, it was Darwin that formalized the theory, and presented the most convincing case for the theory. Charles Darwin was born on the 12th of February 1809 (incidentally, the same day and year as Abraham Lincoln), in Shrewsbury, England. He had a privileged upbringing, and enjoyed science - particularly biology. He graduated from Cambridge University in 1831, and on December the 27th of that year, he set off for a five-year journey aboard the Beagle, a ship bound for South America. His voyage was long and eventful, including once, in Chile, encountering both an earthquake and a tidal wave in a single day!
For instance, Goodall observed during her research that a male gorilla “would threaten [me] with an upward and backward movement jerk of his head.” Some of their emotions are easy to read, while at other times we have to look at multiple places on their faces to understand their feelings. A chimpanzee also uses facial expressions and sounds to communicate with each other, such as hoots and yells. On the contrary, human emotions are more complex than the chimpanzee’s emotions because we have a broad range of emotions to express.
In the late 19th century, Charles Darwin theory argued that the emotions were actually served a purpose for humans like in communication and also in aiding their survival. He also argued that emotions evolved via natural selection and later on had the universal cross-cultural counterparts. He proposed that this basic emotions and social emotions evolved to motivate behaviors that were had an adaptive value. Example, the fear emotion evolved because it enhances the capability of a person to survive. Darwin also believed that facial expressions of emotions are already existed when the time a person or animal was born. He mentioned that facial expression allows people to judge quickly on someone’s friendliness or hostility and on how the intentions
Keith Henson a writer in evolutionary psychology once said that “Evolution acts slowly. Our psychological characteristics today are those that promoted reproductive success in the ancestral environment.” Evolution was first introduced by a naturalist by the name of Charles Darwin. Darwin had written an autobiography, at the age of 50, On the Origin of Species (1859) explaining how species evolve through time by natural selection; this theory became known as Darwinism. “Verlyn Klinkenborg, who writes editorials and vignettes on science and nature for the “New York Times”” (Muller 706) questions Darwin’s theory in one of his essays he wrote called Darwin at 200: The Ongoing Force of His Unconventional Idea. Both articles talk about the theory of Darwinism, but the authors’ use different writing techniques and were written in different time periods. Darwin himself writes to inform us on what the theory is, where as Klinkenborg goes on to explain why Darwinism is just a theory. Today, evolution is still a very controversial topic among many. It comes up in several topics that are discussed everyday such as in politics, religion and education.
The source of much controversy in Darwin’s faith arises in his account of his upbringing. Charles Darwin was born February 12th, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England to Robert and Susannah Darwin. His parents were not particularly devout in their religious practices as he grew up, but they trained him in other ways for his future career. His father was a doctor, and would take young Darwin out to patient visits with him and explain the causes of the ailments and their treatments. From his father, Darwin saw how observations could lead to a theory (Darwin, p. 37).
Charles Robert Darwin, the founder of evolution, was born on February 12, 1809 in rural England. Charles was the son of Robert Darwin and Susannah Wedgewood. His mother died when he was seven and his father died when Charles was thirty-nine. Until the age of eight, Charles was educated at home by his sister Caroline. Charles soon thereafter developed a fascination for biology and natural history. The young student began to hoard, collecting anything that captured his interest, from shells and rocks, to insects and birds. Darwin’s beetle collecting while at Cambridge seems to have been a little more than collecting. His collecting began to control all of his time, and eventually his thoughts. But they proved very useful once on board the Beagle. (Freeman 91) His hobbies laid the framework for a wonderful life of discovery.
Emotions are (in part) for survival, and the more complex the emotion, the more complex the system to process it must be (both in theory and in context). If an emotion or mood is as simple as fight or flight, then this is something that is instilled in reptiles, mammals, and humans alike. These emotions are more easily figured out in the human brain, and seem to be easier to experiment with as well as find out about. There has been a large amount of research on the amygdala and fight or flight response, which as was stated above, is a basic emotion that reptiles, mammals, and humans all seem to have alike. The mor...
admitted to the Royal Society. He moved to Downe, Kent in 1842, and was plagued
One famous pioneer in this area is Ekman (1973 in Shiraev & Levy, 2007, 2004) who classified six basic facial expressions as being universal and reflecting most emotional states. They are happy, sad, anger, disgust, surprised and fearful. Ekman (1973) proposed that the universality of emotions allows individuals to empathise with others and enables us to read other’s feelings therefore emotions must serve an adaptive purpose hence supporting the claim that they are universal (Darwin, 1972 in John, Ype, Poortinga, Marshall & Pierre 2002). Moreover, emotions are widely accepted to accompany...
Charles Darwin began his scientific breakthroughs and upcoming theories when he began an expedition trip to the Galapagos Islands of South America. While studying there, he discovered that each island had its own type of plant and animal species. Although these plants and animals were similar in appearance, they had other characteristics that made them differ from one another and seem to not appear as similar. Darwin questioned why these plants and animals were on these islands and why they are different in ways.
Plutchik, Robert (2002), Emotions and Life: Perspectives from Psychology, Biology, and Evolution, Washington, DC: American Psychological Association
Discuss the "cognition versus biology" debate in the study of emotion. Outline first the cognitive position and then the biological position. Discuss one possible, satisfying resolution to the cognition versus biology debate, using an original example to illustrate this
Do animals feel joy, love, fear, anguish or despair? What ere emotions, and perhaps more importantly, how do scientists prove animals are capable of emotion? Sea lion mothers have often been seen wailing painfully and squealing eerily as they watch their babies being eaten by killer whales. Buffaloes have also been observed sliding playfully across ice, excitedly screaming “Gwaaa.” Emotions are defined broadly as psychological phenomena that help in behavioral management and control. This is a challenging question to researchers who are trying to determine the answer to this question. Through current research by close observation combined with neurobiological research, evidence that animals exhibit fear, joy happiness, shame, embarrassment, resentment, jealousy, rage, anger, love, pleasure, compassion, respect, relief, disgust, sadness, despair, and grief is likely. Charles Darwin said, “The lower animals, like man, manifestly feel pleasure and pain, happiness, and misery.” I agree with Darwin. I believe animals do exhibit emotions, and denying that animals have emotions because the subject cannot be studied directly is not a reasonable explanation.