1. Aha! Moments: Please share any course topics that gave you an "aha!

moment". 

One of the course topics that gave me the “aha moment!” was in module 2,

evolutionary theory. In this module we learned about Charles Darwin who was credited

as being the first to articulate the theory of evolution through a process called natural

selection. Natural selection is the process by which some organisms, with features that

enable them to adapt to the environment, preferentially survive and reproduce, thereby

increasing the frequency of those features in the subsequent population. That right there

was my aha moment! I believe natural selection is a key in evolution. But one of the

biggest misconceptions about the theory of evolution is “if we evolved from monkeys,

why are there still monkeys around?” The first mistake is that evolution doesn’t teach

about humans descending from monkeys, it states that both have a common ancestor. The

theory of evolution does not say that currently existing species came from other currently

existing species. “The most recent common ancestors between humans and Old-World

monkeys (those from Africa and Asia) were about 25 million years ago (the New World

monkeys in South and Central America spilt off earlier)” (Stump, 2018).

Another “aha! Moment” was in module 8, overview of the primates. In this

lecture we learned what it takes to be a primate. What interested me was, what we need in

order to be called a primate: The first tendency you must have is that you need to be

adapted to life in the trees. Second, you need to have a flexible diet. Third, is that all

primates invest a lot of time and care in few offspring, or they express parental

investment
2. Changing Perspectives: Explain any course topics that changed your way of

thinking, how you view yourself the people around you or where you came from.

One of the topics that changed my way of thinking, how I view myself and the people

around me, along with where I came from was in module 15. Module 15 introduced

modern Homo. In this lecture we learned, what makes a modern human different from all

of their hominids that came before it. I found this module interesting because it taught us

that we aren’t so distinct from other primates, or other living species. We have a lot in

common such as behavior, anatomy, and our evolution. But something that sets us apart

is our culture, we all have our different cultures in which we celebrate.

Another changing perspective was in module 5, human variation & Adaptation. One

of the concepts from this lecture was UV Radiation & skin color. Dark skin is associated

with the highest levels of UV radiation. UV radiation is the highest at noon, during the

summer, at the equator, is areas with high humidity and in higher altitudes. As a result,

individuals living in the tropics, have some of the darkest skin pigmentation due to more

direct and prolonged exposure to UV radiation.

3. Favorite Topics: Share what you enjoyed learning about most and why.

My favorite topics I enjoyed learning about most were evolutionary theory,

history of race, neandertal culture, and big brains & fat bodies. I found evolution

theory interesting because there is evidence that supports it. We see evolution every

day, we see how living things are changing, some may die but others may live and be

better suited for their own environment. Next, is the history of race. I have always

wondered about the history of race, “why do we look like the way we do?” Different

races were thought to have separate origins, so Darwin’s theory of evolution

dramatically altered the public debate. He argued that differences in skin color were

due to differences in environment. This was extremely interesting because I knew this

was true and in the end it all made sense. Neandertal culture is an extremely

fascinating subject, they created tools that helped them build structures or used them

to hunt. These Neandertal greatly favored meat (80% of their diet) eating primarily

large plant eaters such as mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses. Their technology

remained relatively unchanged for literally thousands of years. They had jewelry,

from the beads of animal teeth shells and ivory have been found with deliberate

grooves, punctures, and ochre dye. If we think about it, it’s similar to today’s modern

culture. Lastly, big brains & fat bodies, throughout time we have seen an expansion in

the human brain along with bodies becoming muscular.

 References

Development of Evolutionary Theory Lecture Videos: Evolutionary Theory.

Development of Evolutionary Theory.

Human Variation and Adaptation Lecture Videos: History of Race

Pre-Modern Homo Lecture Videos: Neandertal culture. Neandertal Language.

Pre-modern Homo