Reese Panos

Evolution Module 2- Pencil

Artifact: Artifacts are technologies that mimic something in nature and they also help
us extend our own nature which helps us do more things than our genes would
normally let us do. Pencils mimic sticks. Cavemen used sticks to draw/scratch on cave
walls or in the dirt. Pencils help us to keep our drawings or writings safe on paper.
Stick writing could easily be washed away by rain or fade from the elements. Pencils
also give you the ability to erase instead of crossing or scratching something out.

Instinct: Instincts are behaviors, responses, reactions (conscious or unconscious) that a

species exhibits, without having to learn it. Instincts are natural (unlearned) responses
that help us survive. The use of language and being social or able to communicate with
others is a human instinct that we are all born with. Being able to speak to each other
and write messages or notes to each other is very important to humans. The pencil
helps with this communication. Language and being able to communicate in different
ways is important. Steve Pinker, an experimental psychologist at MIT, states, “Language
is interesting because, of course, it's distinctly human, and because we all depend on
it. For centuries, language has been the centerpiece of discussions of the human
mind and human nature, because it's considered the most accessible part of the
human mind.”

Change/Adaptation: The pencil has helped humans adapt to better forms of

communication. It has helped humans multitask by listening to someone but being
able to take notes at the same time. It has helped us record history so we can learn
from the past of others. Learning about the past has helped humans evolve into
better humans. The pencil has given us many hobbies and activities such as drawing
pictures and patterns, making letters and numbers, doing math problems, writing
reports, etc. All of these things have helped our brains to become smarter. One
room schools used chalk and a chalkboard for their lessons. Their work could not
be saved and had to be erased in order to work on the next subject. Pencils help
students keep their work and expand on it.

Natural Selection: Natural selection is the result of variations and heredity

selecting favorable traits. It gives a species not an individual a new and different
species depending on the traits that are transmitted through each generation.
The pencil reinforces the way humans are predisposed to live because it gives
them the ability to communicate with others. It also gives them the ability to
write about their emotions and draw or create art. It helps us to use both sides
of our brain by doing math and equations as well as different types of art.
Typewriters and Computers have made it easier to write or take notes faster
than trying to manually write them with a pencil. However, it is still best to use a
pencil for math problems, unless you are using a calculator.
dge.org/conversation/steven_pinker-chapter-13-language-is-a-human-instinct