Human within a multitude of places Science Assignment help

Posted by Eric Trailor
3
Mar 29, 2013
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We can search answers to the question What does it denote to be human within a multitude of places, from exact to global, subjective to objective. For instance:

  • the chemistry of the human body 
  • the biology of the human body
  •  our physiology
  •  our psychology
  •  our ethnicity / culture
  •  the study of sociology
  •  the study of anthropology
  •  our enjoyment of the arts
  •  our appreciation of literature
  •  our personal experiences.


Daniel Gilbert, who are the Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, jokingly opens his book Stumbling on Happiness along with the idea in which all psychologists at a few point in their careers will publish the sentence, The human being is the only animal in which, and then finish which sentence in whatever way best suits their argument. In a few respects to answer the question what makes us human? Invites me to come to an end Daniel Gilberts sentence. This is not a simple task as the reason we are who we are is since of countless evolutionary selection and opportunities.


let’s focus for now on only one critical element of the human body - our minds. In our mind lies our ability to master the tools of evolution itself. We live within an age and a part of the world in which permit us to stand on the shoulders and call on the ideas of millions of anothers around the world and across human history. There are a few key things in which permit us to do this and perhaps this is where our humanity lies:


1. the cultural element (or memes)
2. consciousness
3. communication
4. collaboration


The Cultural Element, or Memes

Within his book The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins remind us of the biology of genes. While two parents generate an offspring, which offspring carries half of the father genes and half of the mother genes? While the two halves combine there is a little mutation, and an individual is generates. Dawkins suggests in which a same thing happens while we communicate ideas, behaviours or personal styles. The recipient of an idea filters which idea by his or her experiences and then the idea mutates a little to form a slight variation. This variation is then tested and/or passed on to others. Through doing this we are using the procedure of evolution itself to determine the survival of ideas, behaviours and styles.


Consciousness

Our ability to be aware which we are separate to our environment gives us along with the belief (rightly or wrongly) in which we have free will. Our mind enables us to understand the difference among the past, the present and the future. Being aware of the passing of time encourages us to plan & act. Robert Levine conducted research which strongly suggests in which the closer to the equator you live, the less aware you are of the passing of time. Jared Diamond, in his work Guns, Germs and Steel, suggests in which the vast majority of industry and development happens within the temperate zones, at least in elements since the changing of the seasons reminds us of the passing of time. Our own mortality is also a powerful motivator.


Communication

Speech has permit us to communicate ideas from one person to another along with a nuance in which dramatically improves on mimicry alone. Humans are able to convey abstract concepts & discuss things which are not present. Pre-history, communication occurred by story, song, metaphor and rhyme. Presently, if a group of people is gathered around a barbecue, at a dinner party or within a pub, they will still communicate primarily by the telling of stories. The advent of writing and the internet have dramatically sped up the procedure of communication. And Smartphones - several people could now access nearly all of human knowledge by their phones, the true implications of that are yet to be denoted.


Collaboration

We communicate along with others since we are primarily a cooperative species. Yes, perhaps the West is going by an individualistic level at the moment, other than the work of Clare W. Graves and the theory of Spiral Dynamics would suggest in which this is essential for us to evolve to a more sacrificial way of life. Robert Wright, the author of The Moral Animal, suggests in which there is no racism in Business Class on international flights because people travelling overseas within Business Class know in which their success and survival are dependent on the success and survival of the people they trade along with. So although it could be convenient and simple to take aim at corporations, it could be that those corporations are at the leading edge of evolution.


In the end, thus, we are human since of countless decisions and opportunities along the evolutionary pathway. Perhaps of more significance are the tools we have picked up along the way in which it will help us continue to evolve. These are the tools of consciousness, the awareness of the passing of time and our own mortality, our higher ability to communicate and our capacity to collaborate along with other humans science assignment outside of our tribe.

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