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The physical differences in humans have been around a long time. This population multiplied and spread around the world and ended up replacing the present population elsewhere. The diversity of traits is an advantage and this is true for any species. In fact, we as human beings are quite homogeneous. Initially we were a single population relatively small, and we ended up extending from East Africa, in a short time in terms of the evolutionary scale. As we expand, we had to adapt to the local environment, and move around from one climate to many different climates. For differences we may observe today, it seems that we are different, but these differences are superficial and basically they are a reflection of the adaptation of climates.
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The color of the eyes or skin seems to us an important difference between people. But, it is a superficial difference, compared to the differences between all other species. Differences in facial traits match adapting each group had to make to different climates: which the sun 's intensity is higher, is most helpful darker skin or where the wind blows, the slanted eyes are more useful. Despite this homogeneity, the diversity between humans exists, because it is a guarantee of survival. The skin color seems a huge difference, being so obvious prevailing dark color, since it is an even color, and little wrinkles perishable. For example, most people who live in Africa are darker skin and skins in Europe are mainly lighted skin; and elsewhere are mostly darker skin. I think the skin color of the original settlers was …show more content…
I think in some way we - the women - want to feel that security to our partners, instead of feeling that we are the ones who protect them. That 's an important reason why women are attracted more men are taller than them, not to mention may be better physical condition and therefore healthier. Based on this there was also an adaptation to climate, because in cold weather is important to keep the internal heat, and where heat causes is more important to have a body to lose heat easily, so the body is slimmer, also the arms and even longer legs and northern people are likely to be more round and have shorter arms. Males are biologically programmed to spread their genes with the more female possible, while the females seek the males with the best genetics for transmitting to their offspring, this also occurs of humans. Similarly, women in the fertile period and casual encounters, women tend to choose men of distinctly masculine physical characteristics, while in non-fertile stages and stable relationships; they tend to choose men less masculine characteristics. Besides to this, a significant number tends to take into account the economic status as the cultural factor. Similarly, many human behaviors not clearly linked to survival benefits, like humor, music, visual art, and verbal creativity are adaptations courtship have been favored by sexual selection. However, the role of sexual selection on human evolution
Culture, Not Race, Explains Human Diversity, Mark Nathan Cohen, Chronicle of Higher Education, April 17, 1998, pp.B4-B5. The term race refers to a biological subdivision of a species. At one time, scientists held that there were as few as three such subdivisions in the species Homo sapiens: Caucasoid, Negroid, and Mongoloid. Mark Anthony Cohen points out that this is an antiquated view, yet it lingers as a common belief in society. Mark Nathan Cohen makes an interesting point in his article “Culture, Not Race, Explains Human Diversity”. While the article does deal wholly in the realm of the opinion, it is supported by numerous scientific facts. In fact, Cohen’s usual method of drawing in a reader is to make a blanket statement and then “beef it up” with several scientific facts.
The meaning, significance, and definition of race have been debated for centuries. Historical race concepts have varied across time and cultures, creating scientific, social, and political controversy. Of course, today’s definition varies from the scientific racism of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that justified slavery and later, Jim Crow laws in the early twentieth. It is also different from the genetic inferiority argument that was present at the wake of the civil rights movement. However, despite the constantly shifting concepts, there seems to be one constant that has provided a foundation for ideas towards race: race is a matter of visually observable attributes such as skin color, facial features, and other self-evident visual cues.
Have you ever wondered how and why people are different colors? This paper discusses the evolutionary theories behind diversity in human skin pigment. Though previous theories hypothesized that darker skin evolved in order to protect people from sunburn and skin cancer, the prominent theory today relates to folate protection and vitamin D production.
The evolution of the human species has significantly changed during the course of evolution to what is now the modern day Homo sapiens. Some of the changes that have occurred through the evolution are bipedalism, changes in body features such as brow ridges, and an increase in brain capacity.
skin color, etc. DNA differs in all people except for identical twins. All cellular matter
Human beings are no exception to biological evolution. Like other organisms around the world, humans have significantly changed overtime and have developed all sorts of diverse characteristics. One noticeable characteristic of human beings is the variation of skin color. Skin color has been used to identify, classify, and verify the variation that exists in the human population around the world. How did such a distinct variation arise and how did it play into adaptation?
In the past, races were identified by the imposition of discrete boundaries upon continuous and often discordant biological variation. The concept of race is therefore a historical construct and not one that provides either valid classification or an explanatory process. Popular everyday awareness of race is transmitted from generation to generation through cultural learning. Attributing race to an individual or a population amounts to applying a social and cultural label that lacks scientific consensus and supporting data. While anthropologists continue to study how and why humans vary biologically, it is apparent that human populations differ from one another much less than do populations in other species because we use our cultural, rather than our physical differences to aid us in adapting to various environments.
Although historical perspectives show racial differences as a biological factor, recent studies show that race is more a social than a biological fact. To this day the notion of race is an ongoing debate. Race is more or less defined as a “socially constructed category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important” (Macionis, 2013, p. 40). Many factors lead social scientists to believe that race is no longer a biological factor, but rather importance given to differences amongst people by the people. Johann Frederich Blumenbach, a German physician, is known to be the first to develop taxonomy of race (Gabbidon, 2013, p. 1). Blumenbach conducted a research in which he separated the people of color into five groups: “Ethiopian (African), Mongolian (Asian), American (Native American), Malaysian (Pacific Islander) and White (Causcasian)” (p.1). Although his work is known to be the gateway for human classification, scholars have further expanded the idea of race.There are parts of this concept...
The color of your skin used to depend on where you live. (Before transportation became so easy.) Darker skinned people would live where it is hotter, and the sun shines more. Lighter skinned people would live in cooler, less sunny areas. This is because the darker pigments in your skin would keep you from burning.
The nature vs. nurture controversy has been one of the oldest and most incessant debates throughout history. The disputation of this debate has generated numerous hypotheses, and explorations by various researchers, however, it has not been clearly determined as to whether a person is biologically determined or whether they are shaped by the environment. Nature’s theory holds that a person’s mental ability is sustained by what he or she is born with genetically. Conversely, the argument that a person’s environment plays a large role in his or her mental aptitude is nurture. Despite the numerous and overwhelming experiments that have been fulfilled by theorists who support the nature theory, I strongly believe that the environment around a person, on the other hand, is ever-changing and offers more opportunities for growth and variation.
... drawn. What makes us human? Through the examination of human evolution, both biological adaptations and cultural adaptations which are distinct to humans can be recognized. Biologically speaking, humans are unique in that they are bipedal, they have larger brain sizes, and longer leg length. When examining the cultural evolution of humans we have a complex language system, we live in communities, engage in symbolic behavior, and act through emotional impulses. While we are often considered to be superior to all other animals, it is important to recognize that while we are animals, we have very distinct characteristics and adaptations that separate us both biologically and culturally from all other animals.
Being human, we hold certain identifying characteristics that separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. Modern day humans are able to walk upright and our bodies are able to withstand long distance running. More over, our heads are big and round, our jaws do not protrude out. Most importantly, we have face forward facing eyes. These are just certain physical characteristics that makes us human. Before us, we can see that our ancestors had primitive features, who were adapted to living in trees. In addition, the use of tools and other skills allowed early humans to adapt to new areas. The use of tools allowed for
If you were to look at what makes us human from a purely physical perspective you would be looking at everything that was empirical about a human being. This category could be divided into two sections: the first would be the actual appearance of human beings and the second would be the genetic make-up. Basically it would be made up of what you can see at first glance and what you could see at an even closer glance. The physical perspective can be summarised as the things one can see about human beings. Some appearance traits that make us human are quite obvious; nimble hands, soft skin and bipedal. Others are not quite so obvious from first glance such as a large brain (Cartmill & Brown, 2012). If we were to list every single thing that made us look human it would take quite some time. This is the most obvious thing that makes us human, the way we look.
In our society we seem to easily classify individuals based on racial stereotypes. Cultural anthropologists have been able to determine real biological differences in humans which explain the reasons why people in different regions of the world have varying skin color. The study of how and why the physical traits of human populations vary across the world is known as the study of human variation.