Skip to main content

Issues within Evolution

With this week's readings, the differences in thoughts and views are brought up and challenged. And rightfully so. We are taught as anthropologist the ideas of the western white men that came before us and how we could affect and change them. During their time they the only ones in the field, with no one to challenge their thinking. The conclusions made in the past of the superiority of the "white race" in evolution are very much wrong. This topic is widely debated and is brought up in many other anthropology class as well as other disciplines. These readings brought up the many issues that are mentioned in many classes within the humanities. The thought of the white race as superior to all others, Asian and African regions of evolution as inferior and primitive, as well as today's group of anthropologist not being diversified because of the old (and some new) views of white supremacy. The racism is clearly stated within evolution teachings from the past and some have not changed in the many years in which it was first brought about. We should be able to diversify in the field and let go of the hold that the white male has on the future of evolutionary thought. diversifying allows for many different people speak for themselves and have their own ideas and thoughts on how the origins of the genus Homo came to be in more bigger and inclusive ways. 

Comments

  1. Marc KisselJune 6, 2020 at 9:44 AM

    Great! i am really happy to learn this is talked about in your classes (especially with the minor in Criminal Justice i am sure it comes up a lot). Working to make bioanth antiracist is hard and uncomfortable for a lot of us, but so important. Thanks for sharing your views here (and sorry for missing my comment before!)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Listen up DC

You want to know about what I'm holding? If you would like to hear me out this is a great opportunity for me to tell you something. This is my field of specialty and I would like to let you know that human evolution should be a standard curriculum in all schools. This subject is important in knowing who we are and where we come from. I was taught evolution in school, but not on a human basis. This topic is so interesting to me I decided to major in it and if it is taught throughout school much like history is taught it could lead more people into the field to make great discoveries. We have science and history classes at all levels, why not have something in between in learning our extensive family tree and bring in prehistory to the mix. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Bipedal Pelvis

When I think of bipedalism and its effects on the skeleton my thoughts always go to the pelvis. I guess since the pelvis is one of my favorite parts of the body because of the unique design evolved for our bipedal locomotion and some fun other stuff. Overtime in our different species ancestors there are changes within the pelvis that allow us to walk upright without discomfort, and (tying back to my previous blog post) why our pelvis is much different than our cousins the chimps. We evolved our narrow anatomic modern pelvis with a more circular birth canal about 200,000 years ago (Gruss, Schmitt 2015), but it did not happen all at once. This took millions of years of our changing of different species ancestors who used different locomotion or in later times similar locomotion to get were our pelvis are now. according to Gruss and Schmitt our pelvis are shorter than that of apes which lowers our center of gravity allowing lumbar lordosis to occur (inward curve in our lower back). This a...
1 comment
Read more

Are you my relative?

Imagine. Meeting someone from a different species, but is still like yourself. I honestly can't because I find it impossible today. But the thing is this did happen thousands of years ago. Imagine how that would feel to meet some that is not like you but a distant relative from a distant ancestor.  Going back in time think about an early Homo sapien meeting a group of Homo neanderthalensis for the first time. the eerie silence folding around you with tension. A break from that may be with violence or just pure curiosity as you move closer to them. You find similar features on them that belong to you as well as some that doesn't match up. They are shorter and thicker than you. They have a longer face with a bigger head than yours. This is a historical moment in prehistory (if that makes sense) that will be looked upon and studied by future generations. All of these thoughts that I have, our ancestors most likely didn't think of at that time but we think it now and actually h...
Post a Comment
Read more