Human Variation & Race

1. Heat negatively impacts the survival of humans by disturbing homeostasis because it can be costly and hazardous in terms of water and sodium loss. There are two kinds of heat – arid and humid. Arid heat is primarily found in the southwestern United States, Middle East, and in some parts of Africa. High temperatures, wind, and low water vapor is indicative of arid heat. Humid heat is primarily present in eastern and southern U.S., parts of Europe, and in the tropics. Unlike arid heat, humid heat is characterized by large amounts of water vapor. Increased water vapor obstructs the evaporation of sweat, which makes it less difficult for humans to adapt to dry heat. People who workout in areas with dry heat may be unaware they are sweating altogether, because it evaporates as soon as it reaches the surface of their skin. This rapid evaporation can quickly cause dehydration, which stresses the importance of staying hydrated, regardless if you are thirsty.

2. Humans have adapted to heat through several different effects including: short term, facultative, developmental and cultural. 

A short term response to heat could be something as simple as perspiration. Sweating is a natural reaction produced by the body’s cooling system. 

A facultative response to heat would be developing a slender body type, which would allow more heat to escape by sweating more efficiently. 

A developmental response to heat could be understanding the importance of drinking plenty of water. In areas where high temperatures are evident, staying hydrated is necessary for proper body functions. 

A cultural effect to heat is understanding the importance of clothing. People should dress appropriate and protect the skin from damage.

3. The importance of studying human variation is that it allows us to understand how people live in drastically different climates and environments. Being a native to a particular climate gives basis to the adaptation anyone has for survival. For example, living in Southern California has spoiled me into believing that anything below the mid-sixties is cold. This drastically limits the number of places I would be able to survive in the world.

4. I don’t believe race plays an actual role in human variation. Race is any people united by common history, language, and cultural traits. It is not defined by skin color. Environmental effects on adaptations lead to solid non-racial explanations for why people have become the way they are.

Language Blog

Part 1:  You were asked to engage in a conversation for 15 minutes where you were not allowed to use any version of a symbolic language (no speaking, writing, or ASL).

Did you find this experiment difficult or easy?  The experiment was much more difficult than I expected it to be. Throughout the entire conversation, I had an urge to put in my input, but I had to suppress the urge and sit there diligently.

What were the impressions of partners in the conversation?  Did they alter their way of

communicating with you because of your absence of symbolic communication? I am somewhat of a social butterfly amongst my group of friends. I’m the loudest and the one that is always talking, so my friends definitely seized their opportunity of me being unable to talk for fifteen minutes. Just to spite me, they discussed topics that they know I am passionate about and purposefully said things that I don’t agree with. All I could do was shake my head.

Imagine that you and your partners in the conversation represent two different cultures meeting for the first time.  Which culture has the advantage in communicating complex ideas?  I think my friends had a slight advantage over me, because they had the ability to discuss ideas freely amongst each other. However, given the hypothetical question, I believe a communication barrier would prevent both sides from having a real advantage.

What attitudes might the speaking culture have toward the culture that does not use symbolic language?  They would probably be frustrated with the non-speaking culture and would believe themselves to be intellectually superior.

Identify individuals in our culture that have difficulty communicating with spoken language and explore how that affects how those who do speak interact with those individuals. As Americans, we are exposed to many different cultures and languages all the time. Because of this, it is very common for both English speakers and other language speakers to become frustrated with one another, due to the communication barrier. I have had several jobs where I dealt with customers, who did not speak English. It was nearly impossible for both sides to be satisfied without the help of a translator. Other members of our culture who experienced great difficulty communicating with others are those who are deaf or mute. Sometimes for the deaf and or mute, effective communication can be achieved by writing back and forth or through the use of hand gestures. However, this requires a great deal of patience, due to the time it takes to go back and forth writing and the time it takes to write out thoughts and ideas so that the communication is complete.

Part 2:  You were asked to spend 15 minutes communicating without any physical embellishments, i.e., no hand signals, not vocal intonation, not head, facial, or body movements.

 Were you able to last for the full 15 minutes of using only speech for communicating?  Yes, but it was extremely difficult, as I am somewhat of a dramatic speaker.

What made this experiment difficult for you? I feel that physical embellishments are an important aspect to all effective communication. It is what keeps our listeners attentive and interested in what we have to say. Without them, it is very easy for our words to become monotone and tiresome.  

 How were your partners in this part of the experiment affected by your communication?

limitations?  Without the use of physical embellishments, I was unable to capture the interest of my friends. They seized the opportunity to cut me off and talk over me.

What does this experiment say about our use of “signs” in our language, i.e., how important is non-speech language techniques in our ability to communicate effectively?  The use of signs in language is almost just as important as the words themselves. This is because; the signals bring life to the words. In some instances, body language can be even more effective, as people universally understand certain cues (such as happiness, sadness, excitement, sleepiness, etc.).

Are there people who have difficulty reading body language? I think a great deal of body language is universally understood. That being said, I think there are many different little quirks that vary from culture to culture that could be confusing or even offensive to members of other cultures. For example, in some cultures it is common for friends and family members to greet each other with a kiss, even those of the same sex. This could easily be misinterpreted in other cultures.  

Describe the adaptive benefit to possessing the ability to read body language. I believe the adaptive benefit to reading body language would be that there would be less miscommunication between individuals. And this could reduce the offense one might take from not knowing the body language of another culture.  

 Can you describe environmental conditions where there might be a benefit to not reading body language? The only environmental conditions where not reading body language might be an advantage is if we were placed in an environment where there is absolutely no foreseeable threat and we used our attention spans to listen what is on somebody’s mind rather than make our own assumptions. 

Piltdown hoax

1. Begin by giving a brief synopsis of the Piltdown hoax, including when and where it was found, by whom, and varying affects this had on the scientific community.  Also include how the hoax was discovered and the varying responses it received from the scientist(s) involved and in the related fields of human evolution. (5 pts)

Charles Dawson discovered the “Piltdown hoax” in 1912 in the village of Piltdown. The fossil skull was believed to be the missing link between humans and apes and was dubbed “Piltdown Man”. Piltdown man was very misleading to the science community, which resulted with many additional false claims by those analyzed it. When younger fossils were uncovered in Asia, Piltdown Man’s validity was questioned, as the new fossils lacked many of the human skull features that Piltdown Man had. The hoax brought attention to the fact that not all scientists are honest and not all of their work is genuine, which they were believed to be at the time.

2. Scientists are curious, creative and persistent by nature, but being human, they also have faults. What human faults come into play here in this scenario and how did these faults negatively impact the scientific process? (5 pts)

While scientists are curious, creative and persistent by nature, they are also human, so they are not exempt from having a few faults. One human fault that was evident in the Piltdown man scenario is jealousy. When Germany found the “Neanderthal”, Germany became the birthplace of man. Britain, wanting to hold the title of being the birthplace of man, forged the Piltdown man. This negatively impacted the scientific process because someone unknown felt the need to create the Piltdown man and make others believe it was real. Another human fault that was evident in the “Piltdown hoax” is gullibility. Scientist of Britain were extremely naive for believing the Piltdown fake was real and not questioning it until 40 years after it was discovered. It wasn't until 1949, when the fossils were dated using the fluorine absorption technique, that the authenticity of the "discovery" was called into question. It is true that the fluorine test was not around until many years after the hoax. However, the file marks upon the teeth, and the fact that the "wear" was backward, should have alerted other scientists right away.

3. What positive aspects of the scientific process were responsible for revealing the skull to be a fraud? Be specific about scientific tools, processes or methodologies that were involved in providing accurate information about the Piltdown skull. (5 pts)

With the aid of the fluorine absorption technique, scientists discovered that the skull belonged to an orangutan. The skull dated back less than 100 years, which means it wasn’t ancient at all. The bones were also determined to have chromic acid stains and iron solution alterations to make them look older. After further analysis it was also proven that the teeth had been filed down, as well as pieces of the jaw bone broken off to resemble that of a human.

4. Is it possible to remove the “human” factor from science to reduce the chance of errors like this from happening again? Would you want to remove the human factor from science? (10 pts)

I do not think that it is possible to remove the “human” factor. Human beings have such great determination to want to be the first to discover things and I extremely doubt that the desire will ever disappear. In order to prevent situations like this from happening again, it would be wise to always authenticate one’s work before proceeding. I would definitely not want to remove the human factor from science; otherwise scientists would not have the opportunity to be recognized for their findings that ultimately advance us as species.

5. Life lessons: What lessons can you take from this historical event regarding taking information at face value from unverified sources? (5 pts)

The lesson that I would take from this historical event would be; to verify and double check everything in order to make sure that my claims and results are truthful, so that I can have integrity.