Cocept Analysis: Adaptation Essay

In nature adaptation is necessary for survival, the same can be said of humans forced to endure terrible situations. Sold by Patricia McCormick and Night by Elie Wessel both deal with characters that must adapt to survive. By examining the novels Night and Sold we can see how the main characters adapt which is important because adaptation is necessary to survive challenges that would otherwise be impossible to endure.

The dictionary defines adapt as make fit or suitable; most people define adaptation as a process dictated by one's surroundings. In Antarctica, the Inuit people adapted to use whale blubber as insulation and food. People often adapt to new situations out of necessity. Some people do it because of their environment, government, or social situation.

Perception serves more than one purpose to the human experience. Wikipedia defines Perception as - the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the environment. This definition unfortunately describes only one of the services perception provides. I would like to offer instead the definition - Perception is a collection of data filters, some natural but most created by education and experience, which serve to shape and enforce limits on sensory and intellectual data that is considered to provide the individual a world view in which to operate within. Similar definitions yes, but the differences are critical.

Most people in the United States would say that the ability to adapt is simply a part of the American way of life. Americans have always relied on this trait since the early days of British colonization to present times. It can be demonstrated in all facets of life. Adaptability was the reason the old frontier was populated; people adjusted to the unfamiliar climates, conditions, and landscapes. New immigrants were able to adapt to the culture and thrive in the United States, and they continue to. Americans adapted to the threat of the enemy during World War II and needed to accustom themselves to a life full of restrictions on their day-to-day activities. In the military, soldiers adapt to a new way of thinking in order to allow themselves to become warriors. Currently, Americans must adapt to a life lived in view of everyone with the use of social media and camera-ready cell phones. Throughout the course of American history and into our present times, American citizens have depended on their ability to adapt, whether it be mentally, physically, and/or emotionally. It was imperative that citizens were adaptable in the past, and it continues to be so today. The adaptability trait is not only necessary to survive, but it is also an important factor to prosper, as the life of Louie Zamperini demonstrates.

H.G. Wells, an English writer from the 1800’s, once stated, “Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative.” This means that if you do not adapt, you will perish. It is vital to adapt to your surroundings. In the novel, The Call of the Wild, written by Jack London, Buck, the protagonist, is transitioned into an extremely different habitat and way of living than before. Buck needs to vitally adapt to his surroundings. In order to adapt physically Buck needs to adapt his feet to the trail, getting used to less food and learning the sled traces. But, not only does Buck have to adapt physically to his new surroundings, he needs to adapt mentally as well. Buck needs to learn to steal and to be less fastidious in order to survive.

Adaptationism is the belief that the traits seen in organisms are the results of evolution by natural selection. There are different forms of adaptationism and many different definitions as to what an adaptation is, with some believing it is impossible to test a hypothesis about an adaptation at all. This essay will look at a) how to define adaptation b) different forms of adaptationism and c) consider the different methods of testing whether a phenotype is an adaptation.

Sister Callista Roy developed the Adaptation Model, as she was impressed with adaptation. I can relate to her fascination with adaptation. From the time people are born, we face environmental stimuli, whether positive or negative. It is through the environmental stimuli and experience that we grow and develop through adaptation. Adaptation is so important for transformation, growth, and development throughout each one’s life. As many theorists have concluded, including Sister Roy, the interactions between humans and the environment are continuous. As humans we must learn how to face these continuous interactions by utilizing coping mechanisms and our adaptive modes. Otherwise, the environmental stimuli could threaten one’s

What does it mean to adapt to an environment? To adapt to an environment means to adjust or get used to the current situation. People usually need to adjust to their environment to make life easier and take a burden off of others, even if it isn't always the easiest way.

Has it ever crossed your mind that one day a person might have to learn a completely new way of life? Well that´s called, Adaptation! Adaptation is a part of life. To survive the person must learn to adapt, and there are plenty of reasons why.

Darwin’s theory of evolution claims that animals must adapt in order to survive to their ever-changing environment. At the age of nine, when I first learned this, I never considered it would also apply to me. However, moving to Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and the United States made me understand that adapting is indeed a matter of life or death for us as well.

Having read and researched Maya’s case study the first question you may ask yourself is, what is an Adaptation?

Adaptation is the use of physical trait or possible behavior that the organism already has or can do. Whereas evolution is the change in the gene pool over time. Change in the gene pool includes two types it could be microevolution or macroevolution. Microevolution is defined as the generation to generation change in a population’s gene pool. Macroevolution is the accumulation of small changes that eventually lead to new species. Causes of microevolution are different from causes of macroevolution.

4. It takes long portions of time to become accustomed or adapt to drastic changes. Traits and characteristics are passed on from parents to offspring which better enable the offspring to survive. Much like we have transitioned over a long period of time from chariots, to steam power, to combustible engines, to

“It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones more responsive to change.” What is meant by “responsive to change”? This quotation is from Charles Darwin, a very famous naturalist, who studied the evolution of animals and human beings. In his perspective, evolution meant that the species at issue is responding to a kind of change in their environment or to a problem. The ones in that species that could not handle the change, whether they are the strongest or more intelligent, are much likely to die than the ones who evolved and adapted to that change.

Natural selection does not create organisms that are perfectly adapted to their environment for various reasons. One constraint is the fact that the environment is always changing. Disturbances in the environment are often caused by human influences and natural ecological processes that change what traits are beneficial to the organisms in order to survive in their particular surroundings. In the article, "Adaptation, Plasticity, and Extinction in a Changing Environment: Towards a Predictive Theory", it states that, “the unusual rate and extent of anthropogenic alterations of the environment may exceed the capacity of developmental, genetic, and demographic mechanisms that populations have evolved to deal with environmental change” (Chevin,