Symbols of Evolution
Two billion years ago two prokaryotes bumped into each other and formed the first multi-cellular organism. 65 million years ago an asteroid hit the earth and dinosaurs became extinct. Three days ago, in your notebook, you drew a mess of squiggles which to you represented Jackson Pollock's painting, Number 1, 1948. You wrote the word entropy on the upper left hand corner of the page. On the bottom right hand side you wrote, Creativity is based on randomness and chance.
This paper will not try to determine why the dinosaurs became extinct or what caused two prokaryotes to form the first multi-cellular organism. Instead, it will ask you that which is, perhaps, a more difficult question: Why did you write what you wrote in your notebook?
If human recorded history only represents 10,000 years of a universe which has been evolving for 15 billion years, then does a question pertaining to such relatively recent human practices as writing and artwork matter? Yes! These symbol making processes matter because of what they can tell us about our identity and our place in the evolutionary process. This essay will explore the notion that human identity is based almost entirely on representing life symbolically, and grapple with the idea that we exist because of the symbols which we create. It will then go on to explore how symbol-making resembles the biological process of evolution in the way it prizes and incites both messiness and reproduction. Finally it will synthesize these two ideas: symbol-making tied to human identity and symbol-making resembling the biological process of evolution in order to provide a backbone for the idea that humans might evolve in such a way that the cultural transfer of information could take place as a part of the process of biological evolution.
Reason I:
Because after all the discussion, something was still missing. It'd be difficult for me to tell you exactly what, because we discussed concepts about evolution quite thoroughly. But nonetheless, I was feeling empty. And so I guess what I was trying to do was tell myself a story on paper, trying to fill the emptiness that all the other stories created.
The only way that humans can communicate with each other is through words and signs. In his book entitled, Literary Theory, A Very Short Introduction, Jonathan Culler shows how large a part signs play in who we are by stating that "instead of thinking of life as something to which signs and texts are added to represent it, we should conceive of life itself as suffused with signs, made what it is by processes of signification.
Throughout the time, humans believe themselves as a superior species by occupying the land to develop and to modify their community. Moreover, people continuously research on human’s specialties. Among several terms, human defines themselves through “human authenticity.” According to two articles, “Dr. Daedalus” and “Alone Together”, two authors thoughtfully examine human authenticity through comparing humans with two other helping objects. A human authenticity includes a relationship with people through communication to solve personal and social problems with people’s previously learned knowledge. Even more, people begin to believe themselves as mostly evolved organisms among other species, which idea is called “Speciesism”. A speciesism defines human authenticity through several aspects of human’s natural abilities. Just human’s intelligence does not define their identity, but a physical appearance and human-to-human relationship including performance of intelligence all combine to explain a complex species of humans. A speciesism allows people to perform their abilities which is directly relate to people’s authenticity. Lauren Slater, an author of “Dr. Daedalus,” describes a bond between a plastic surgery and human’s identity. On the other hand, Sherry Turkle, an author of “Alone Together,” explains a cyber-alternation of humans’ problems, loneliness and relationship. From the articles, the term “marvel” defines a human with animal aspects, and a cyber-alternation explains a cyber-world through Internet or an artificial intelligence’s world, which assistances people to modify their lives. Through human’s basic roles on the society, a marvel surgery affects human authenticity negatively by crossing a border of species freely, w...
In Robert Pape’s Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism he investigates the three hundred and fifteen suicide terrorist attacks that have occurred from its beginning in 1980 up until 2003. By examining these attacks he explains the three logics behind suicide terrorism, the strategic, the social, and the individual logic. Pape uses Dying to Win as a tool to educate the public on suicide terrorism. He hopes people will begin to understand that it is not irrational, but requires reason and strategy. He brings to light that suicide terrorism is not directly correlated with Islamic fundamentalism, but rather political objectives, trying to put to rest many preconceived notions. By understanding the logic behind suicide terrorism people can work together to prevent it from happening in the future. After reading this book it is clear that suicide terrorism is not random, but does demand some thought in order for it to work.
Alexie, S. (2009). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.
The entire novel is written in the point of view of the main character Arnold. The reader would feel as though they are having a conversation with a close friend and is then better able to relate and sympathize with Arnold’s struggles and accomplishments. For example, Arnold begins telling the reader his story by stating, “I was born with water on the brain.” (Alexie, 1) Explaining his medical condition in the beginning of the novel allows the reader to easily understand why Arnold may react differently to certain social situations. However, his medical condition also acts as an anchor allowing the reader to get closer to Arnold’s character. Without a personal connection readers may not relate or comprehend any of Arnold’s experience. Using the first person view perspective from Arnold’s character gave Alexie an advantage and makes the novel more appealing to readers.
Miyasato, Merle. "Suicide Bombers: Profiles, Methods and Techniques." DTIC Online. Defense Technical Information Center. May 2006. Web. 25 Nov. 2009.
Robert Paper argues that, in a way, suicide terrorism can be a logical choice for the individual carrying out the attack. When contemplating whether or not suicide terrorism can be a logical choice, you must be able to put yourself in the place of the “terrorist”. Whether or not someone is considered a terrorist can be a very subjective view, especially from the viewpoint of the person or group that is being terrorized. This requires the observer to exude empathy.We may look at Osama Bin Laden as a terrorist, but to him, he was doing the work of his “God”. The person considered to be a terrorist could be revered as a martyr in their community; someone who ultimately gave their life to perpetuate a particular faith or ideal. While, being a citizen of a country that has endured many tragedies, both on the homefront and abroad; makes these actions disgust me, there are two sides to view from. This subjectiveness is at the heart of figuring out whether or not this is a logical choice. Exploration of this topic shall lead to a greater understanding of the “how” and “why” terrorists commit these devastating activities, and allow those defending from such attack be able to do so. This would allow further safety in the area of homeland security.
Communication is the foundation of any society. Humans are interactive beings that must communicate in order to survive. Humans develop communication skills as infants; learning to yell when something is needed, cry when something is painful, and smile when feeling happy. As babies age they learn words; eventually learning to compose sentences allowing them to express their feelings or desires. Humans finally learn to communicate within different parts of their life with different forms of communication such as letters, spoken, visual, and more. As one ages, they become aware of the different rules of communication used with certain people and situations; such as learning to speak to a teacher in a different manner than how one talks to their friends. While doing this, people are unconsciously starting to learn how to conform in the different discourse communities. Discourse communities are an essential part of life, and learning to communicate in those communities is just as vital.
Being that the rate suicide terrorism has amplified globally and has taken many lives in the process it can be seen why this issue may be of significance. Furthermore this issue is of relevance because this method of resistance kills more than any other tactic (Ashworth, Clinton, Meirowitz, and Ramsay, 1). Therefore it can be seen as to why this issue is of such important. Many have speculated as to what exactly motivates such behavior. Robert Pape defines suicide terrorist as one who is willing to sacrifice his life as well as the lives of others in hopes to coerce his opponents. Experts , including Pape, have wondered what causes an individual to take such drastic measures. Others have also proposed possible solutions to this issue. It will be seen as to what those solutions are and the possible issues that these solutions may be comprised of.
Townsend, Ellen. "Suicide Terrorists: Are they Suicidal?" Suicide & Life - Threatening Behavior 37.1 (2007): 35-49. ProQuest. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
Pape believes that suicide terrorism is focused around democracies and occupation. After conducting his research, Pape discovered that from 1980 to 2001, records of suicide terrorism have had three main reoccurring, necessary properties: timing, nationalist goals, and target selection. Pape (2003) explains that, when it comes to timing, “nearly all suicide attacks occur in organized, coherent campaigns, not as isolated or randomly timed incidents” (347). Thus, Pape infers there is strategic reasoning behind this way of terrorizing the masses. He further states campaigns of suicide terrorism focus on gaining oversight of territory terrorists deem as their national homeland.
Duhigg, Charles. “Millions in U.S. Drink Dirty Water, Records Show” The New York Times. The
"Water Pollution." Current Issues: Macmillan Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 5 May 2014.
The principles of natural selection are suitable a metaphor for how knowledge within a discipline is developed. Natural selection is the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. The theory of its action was first fully proposed by Charles Darwin and is now believed to be the main process that brings about evolution. It is important to keep in mind that natural selection is different from evolution as evolution is the result of natural selection. The use of this metaphor signifies that only knowledge that is favored survives to be taught to the next generation and that only the best knowledge survives. In general, knowledge can be defined as justified true belief (Ichikawa). The
She was very talented and passionate about her work. However, living in the 19th century made it especially hard to express her wonderful ideas as a woman. This forced her to publish most of her books anonymously so that people would not automatically dismiss her work (Christine, 2012, Writer Hero: Jane Austen). In fact, critics didn 't fully appreciate her style of writing at the time. They thought that Jane’s popularity was overrated because of her limited thought to her small world and it’s small concerns. In direct contrast, it was this exact idea that made her popular. It related her books to everyday life and appealed to the modern reader (Mullan, 2015, How Jane Austen’s Emma Changed the Face of Fiction). The way Jane wrote provided a gentle, easy-to-follow rhythm, using literary devices to move towards subjects floating through irony and criticism. This allows the reader to view the subject through humor and enjoyment but also clearly understanding the point Jane is trying to make (Collins, 2009, What Would Jane Do?). In her popular book Emma, it is the first time that an author writes in a third-person point of view, shares a character 's judgments, and follows the path to their decisions. This technique opened up a new world of opportunities, combining the internal and external world of a character in a novel (Mullan, 2015, How Jane Austen’s Emma Changed the Face of Fiction). Jane Austen had
... Since we are all unique, we all have a precise and specific “imprinting protocol” that makes us human. Finding our exact “imprint” is “the mystery of the human person” (Cortez, 93). But, “the emergence of higher-level properties and complex systems with novel properties. cannot be comprehensively understood in lower-level terms alone,” affirming that what defines a physical being as being “human,” or what delineates David as a “real boy” is ultimately abstract and unknown (Cortez, 94).