Science is important because it is the ultimate tool in the progression of humankind. The point that I thought most connected to my path in life was the fact that science is important in medical studies and technology. Science helps us not only improve medical technology but also to become aware of diseases, their causes, and possibly find a cure. Also, science can help us make technology that spots something before it becomes a deadly disease or even prevent it completely in the first place. Now anthropology in basic terms is something that tries to answer one fundamental question- what it is to be human? Of course the answers to that question is infinite and ever changing as we live in an ever changing world made up of many different ways of thinking about that world. But in order to try and think about what it is to be human is you can think about various ways that anthropology may approach the relationship between humans and animals. What’s the difference between humans and animals, being one of the big questions that have concerned philosophy and anthropology throughout the ages.
After reading The Worst Mistake in the History of Human Race by Jared Diamond. I can say this was an interesting read. I can agree with Diamond on many points.
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According to Diamond There are at least three sets of reasons to explain the findings that agriculture was bad for health. First, hunter-gatherers enjoyed a varied diet, while early farmers obtained most of their food from one or a few starchy crops. The farmers gained cheap calories at the cost of poor nutrition. Second, because of dependence on a limited number of crops, farmers ran the risk of starvation if one crop failed. Finally, the mere fact that agriculture encouraged people to clump together in crowded societies, many of which then carried on trade with other crowded societies, led to the spread of parasites and infectious
Jared Diamond Argues that the worst mistake in Human History is the invention and widespread introduction of agriculture, because it has created a plethora of social, economic, and health problems for the word. One example of this is when the article states, “Hunter-Gatherers enjoyed a varied diet, while early farmers obtained most of their food from one or a few starchy crops. The farmers gained cheap calories at the cost of poor nutrition.” This illustrates that the author's main argument is that agriculture was the worst mistake in human history because it shows how agriculture has negatively impacted health of both early farmers and people today by creating mass produced bulk crops that are low in nutrition. Furthermore, another example
As a word analyst, I found three words from the story, “All the Troubles of the World” by Isaac Asimov, that are significant to the theme and the understanding of the story. The first word is “tendril”. A tendril is a tread-like organ of climbing plants that grow in spirals and help the plant climb its way up. The word is used in the sentence, “Multivac…had reached out tendrils into every city and town on Earth” (pg 263). The author refers the view range of Multivac to a tendril because the ability of tendrils to climb up just about anything is similar to the capability of the Multivac to reach and oversee every man on Earth. The second word is “subconscious”. Subconscious means existing or operating in the mind beneath or beyond consciousness.
According to Johnathan Malesic, in his article “How Dumb Do They Think We Are?” students think that professors are ignorant at not being able to tell if their paper is plagiarized or not. Some students believe that they can get away with plagiarizing a paper, but they do not realize that professors know how to search and locate authors’ work online and identify a plagiarized essay. In the beginning, Malesic talks about how he was completely insulted when he found his first plagiarized paper, but little did he know that this would surely happen again. Other teachers had told him that this would not be the final time; as a matter of fact, they said to expect it to happen almost every time he assigned a paper. Sure enough they were right. He mentions how he wishes that students would use their taught knowledge to do their papers and put an author’s work into their own words. He ends the article with how he believes that a person who plagiarizes a paper is not really a student at all (87).
Getting one good grade in school is easy, the difficult part is to keep getting good grades. This concept applies to other things also. For example when a group is given a certain privilege they have to maintain it. In the essay “The Unexamined” by Ross Chambers, the author discusses that different races are perceived differently depending on where they are. He says that white people are the superior ones, and they bare the privilege of not being marked by others. While other races are discriminated, the whites are excluded from discrimination. Together with the color category there are other ones which also are the privileged ones, like for example: men and straight people. In the other essay “Man Royals And Sodomites” by Makeda Silvera,
lie added to our story and soon may think it was actually part of our
In Hannah Arendt’s work, The Human Condition, Arendt addresses the active life or Vita Activa and how the three major human activities are incorporated into the public and private realms. The private realm, in which finances and basic needs are met, exists within the household. The Public Realm involves politics and interaction between individuals. All interaction within the public realm requires the individual to have attained freedom. As society continues to develop, however, and the Modern Age takes over the rise of the Social Realm disrupts the hierarchy of these three human activities. Arendt writes about how this disruption damages the natural order. Each of the three human activities has it’s own place in society and by disrupting the natural order this shift towards the Social Realm causes issues for mankind.
Jared Diamond makes the argument that when humans decided 10,000 years ago to no longer be hunter-gatherers and made the decision to become sedentary and start domesticating their animals and crops, the result is that the human race has experienced a steady downfall. Diamond makes the point that “with agriculture came the gross social and sexual inequality, the disease and despotism that curse our existence,” (Diamond). While the present system certainly is far from being perfected, Diamond’s various complaints and solutions certainly would not be of much use in the present time either.
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell looks at a number of social epidemics and analyzes their build up to the point where they tip. “Tipping” is that point where an epidemic booms, or grows, to its maximum potential. Gladwell begins defining “tipping” with a literal example of the famous shoes, Hush Puppies. Once considered old-fashioned, Hush Puppies experienced a social boom in the mid-90s when hipsters in New York made them trendy again. Gladwell continues explaining “tipping” with a medical epidemic of syphilis in Baltimore. Gladwell introduces us to three essential rules of epidemics: the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor and the Power of Context. The Law of the Few says a key factor in epidemics is the role of the messenger: it spreads through word-of-mouth transmission. Gladwell explains this theory with an example of how Paul Revere managed to spread the news of British invasion overnight. Gladwell continues to explain that there are several types of people that create these types of epidemics. They are called Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen. Connectors are those people that are very social and can literally connect with people with as little as two degrees of separation. Mavens are those that know a lot about a lot of different things. They may recommend a certain restaurant and you must go because you know what they told you about it is true. And Salesmen are exactly that: people that are easily social and persuading.
“Without Conscience" by Robert D. Hare is one aimed towards making the general public aware of the many psychopaths that inhabit the world we live in. Throughout the book Hare exposes the reader to a number of short stories; all with an emphasis on a characteristic of psychopaths. Hare makes the claim that close monitoring of psychopathy are vital if we ever hope to gain a hold over Psychopathy- A disorder that affects not only the individual but also society itself. He also indicates one of the reasons for this book is order to correctly treat these individuals we have to be able to correctly identify who meets the criteria. His ultimate goal with the text is to alleviate some of the confusion in the increase in criminal activity by determining how my of this is a result of Psychopathy.
Agriculture plays an enormous part in having a functioning society. The farming fields in the
The World Without Us- Alan Weisman The World Without Us by Alan Weisman was an interesting book following the story of what would happen if humans were to suddenly disappear and how the Earth and nature would rebound from the effects that humans have caused or created. It also explains what nature would not be able to accomplish, such as biodegrading plastic and stopping explosions or meltdowns caused by nuclear power plants. The book also illustrates the lasting effects of these subjects. The book stresses what exactly would happen after humans disappear and how long it would take for nature to return to the buildings in the cities.
In the article “What makes us moral” by Jeffrey Kluger, he describes how morality is defined and how the people follow rules. Kluger discusses about scientific research that has been done to point out the important reasons of morality. Kluger explains that a person’s decision to do something good or bad is based on empathy, that humans tend not to do bad to those they sympathize with. Kluger also compares humans with animals and thinks that morality is the only thing that separates us from animals. I do agree with Kluger that people are born with a sense of right and wrong, but we should be taught how to use it. We learned to be nicer to those around us because we already know the type of person they are, and the morality we learned as children
So overall, Agriculture is playing a very important role in changing the lifestyle of different people. Agriculture might have made everything easy for us but it still has its cons. We see the effects of agriculture and how it affects the lives of other species and the environment.
The book, The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman draws attention to some very good points concerning globalization and the world economy today. Friedman emphasizes the status of America today in relation to the other countries of the world. As I looked at the things in which he warned about or highlighted, I realized the importance of this issue. He talks about a few aspects in which need to be kept competitive in order for America to retain their current standing in the world market.
Science is a method of understanding how things work. It is important because we need science in order for things to work and to develop new technology that is used in every day life. It is personally important to me because I really want to become a vet when I get older and I would need to do really well in science. Even though science isn’t exactly my best subject, I am willing to put in the hard work and determination so I may eventually get better and learn what I need to know.