This weeks assignment highlights the connection that of race to the environment and the human ability to adapt. Race refers to physical traits and genetics shared by individuals within a group (merrier Webster, 2015). Race is a blanket term that groups rather than individualizes, this grouping may lead to stereotyping and misconceptions regarding a variety of issues. On a the contrary, the word plasticity describes the evolutionary changes that organisms [primarily humans], have undergone in order to adapt to their living conditions and environment (Bogin, 1998, p. 185). Bogin, dismisses the rigidity of race and genetics, and embraces the Homo sapiens' ability to adapt to their environment. It has been well argued that both socioeconomics
The PBS series “Race: The Power of an Illusion” effectively works to expose race as a social construct and deconstructs the false notions that race is a biological marker. The series first discusses that all human beings originated from Africa but dispersed about 70,000 years ago to various places in the world. As a result of this migration, people were spread to different locations throughout the world with different environmental conditions that affected their physical traits. It was many years after the migration in which people began to display these new physical traits such as slanted eyes, fair skin, and differing hair textures. While the series notes the physical changes that occurred during the migration it also emphasizes that race while it may seem apparent in skin color and other physical features has no real biological basis.
In Sharon Begley’s article, “Three is not enough,” the author focuses her argument on the fact that race should not be defined by his or her body components, such as DNA, hair, eye, or skin color. In other words, race should be justified by their social interactions with others and build upon one’s behaviors and actions.That is to say, one’s skin color, physical appearance do not define who he or she is, nor does it impose a stereo type of that a certain group of people. The word race is often misunderstood, many believe that race is used to label one group of people, and make assumptions about a certain group of people. However, this is wrong according to Sharon Begley, author of “ Three Is Not Enough”. Begley cites a study done by biologist
Before I studied human race in detailed, it was just one simple concept and classification that people hardly bothered about. The effects of race upon an individual are way too surprising. It affects one’s life chances, the area where one lives in, the way an individual is treated, one’s financial condition, education, life expectancy and so on.
This article written by Mark Nathan Cohen, who is an anthropology professor in the State University of New York; talks about how race does not define human diversity. In the article, he also mentions that in school students learn the definition of race based on “biological variation” and not based on their culture. The professor Cohen says that studies on human family tree that were based on their genetic analysis of traits do not show any relation of who those traits belong to. He gives an example by stating that even skin color is not a god indicator of who it relates to because the “traits occur independently in several different branches of the human family.”
In the nineteenth century biologist attempted to create a science of racial differences that would support the view of racialism. “These traits and tendencies characteristic of a race constitute, on the racialist view, a sort of racial essence; and it is part of the content of racialism that the essential heritable characteristics of what the nineteenth century called the “Races of Man” account for more than the visible morphological characteristics—skin color, hair type, facial features—on the basis of which we make our informal classification (Appiah 394). As of today, most scientists working in these fields continue to reject racialism. The claims of racialism are not supported by science. Plausibly, Appiah states that racialism doesn’t necessarily have to be an ethical issue. An individual may possibly acknowledge racialism but still believe that constructive moral characteristics are equally disseminated across the different races. But, what is logically possible and what usually occurs are two different things. “I believe—and I have argued elsewhere—that racialism is false; but by itself it seems to be a cognitive rather than a moral problem” (Appiah 394).
However there is no discernible difference in genotype between perceived ‘races’, as the variation observed in the morphologies and cultural patterns of geographically distinct groups are physical markers that are interpreted through social practice.1 Renowned geneticists, Francis Collins and Craig Venter after initially mapping the human genome, announced in June 2000 that 99.9% of humans are genetically identical despite perceived race.2 Subsequently, evolutionary biologist Richard Lewontin, then further substantiated that within that 0.1% of difference, 85% of phenotypical variation was prominent inside geographically distinct groups, while only 15% occurs between them.3 It has been proposed by academics such as Naomi Zack, that to continue to refer to race as a purely biological notion is detrimental to social understanding as it reinforces a false notion.4 Although observable difference between groups does exist as variation caused by the evolutionary process of random drift and adaption5, these differences are phenotypical and only become salient to racial philosophy when interpreted socially. DeSalle and Tattersall explain that variation is driven by environmental influence on genotype, highlighting that insights into cultural practice are more productive in discussions about difference. A case study provided by DeSalle and Tattersall uses the example of lactose intolerance, explaining that, “Among norther European populations, only about 1 to 15 percent
Laura Hendricks Professor Amanda Jouett Class Date Nurtured in Racism From Asian, to American, to African American, race stands as a factor of division in society. Children and adults all over the world face emotional, and often physical, battles due to racism. In society today, the color of ones skin deciphers how one might think or act in the mind of the opposite race. The origination of this cultural block raises a Nature vs. Nurture debate.
Race is a hot topic in our world. We all think we know what race is. After all, we are constantly being bombarded with it whether it be from media, politics, or sports. The truth is that race does not revolve around the idea of biological traits or characteristics. It is a modern concept that we as a society have created to divide people into categories. I will argue that race is socially constructed from a biological, political history, and sociological standpoint, and how it may impact other areas of our society.
The third part to the human dilemma is that all nonhuman species have evolved to survive their physical habitats, and the human species originally evolved to do this as well. However, human beings have altered the world more in the last ten thousand years, than the ancestors did in the first four million years. We have changed the environment to fit our needs, instead of changing our needs to fit the environment. Most importantly, humans have built entirely new environments, such as farms, villages, cities and towns. The cycling pattern of human expansion and creations has changed the human race from small groups of hunters and gatherers, into a very complex civilization.
Although race as a physical condition has likely occurred in societies from the beginning of human existence, it
Problems that may be have been improved, that relate to food, security, or comfort in the tribe may have been seen as necessary course of action if the demands for them are adequately met. A constant baseline for stimuli, would theoretically be advantageous assuming a constant environment. However, tribal humans faced a changing environment, that include changes in weather or occurrences of natural disasters that could have been out of their control. Adaption-level phenomenon allowed tribal man to adjust to the environment, conferring a fitness benefit to ultimately pass down traits that relate to the phenomenon. Today, the environment does change, but humans possess greater control over it. The adaption-level phenomenon poses greater consequences to modern man, as the phenomenon leads to destructive behavior such as gambling that in the end may decrease
Race has been a topic used as a means of division and categorization for years. Scientists and people in general have used race to separate racial groups and to determine which race is “superior” or “inferior”. However, as we progress in society, studying the differences between races serves to understand and help one another, rather than to degrade. Studying the different genetic makeups between races serves as a helpful tool to educate individuals on health risks they may be more susceptible to because of their racial background.
It should be very obvious in this day and age that there is a lot of concern surrounding the well being of our planet. Whether it be climate change, water pollution, or massive buildups of garbage, there are a lot of environmental catastrophes that we face in this day and age. However, one problem that does not seem to be addressed enough is how certain groups of people are subjected to the worst of the environmental problems the planet faces. Some examples include indigenous communities having uranium poisoning in their water supply or a incinerator that creates a lot of air pollution being placed in a mostly African American community. I want to research more about the history of this phenomenon and why/how race and environmental issues have
Anthropology recognizes four primary types of human adaptation: genetic change, developmental adjustment, acclimatization and cultural adaptation. Individuals may develop a successful adaptation with the help of biological evolution. i.e. genetic change, that is caused by the constant environmental stress, experienced by many generations. It is a well-known fact that those who can respond to certain stresses have better chances to survive longer and pass on their dominant genes to the future generations. Such evolution is also known as the natural selection. For example, if some individuals live in malaria-endemic areas for many years, their descendants will probably inherit the immunity to such horrible disease. The second type of adaptation, developmental adjustment, is the physiological change that occurs in the early childhood and is irreversible when a person reaches the adulthood. As a matter of fact, the developmental adjustment may be caused both by specific cultural practices and natural environmental issues. An example of the cultural practices is the Chinese custom, currently illegal, according to which it was necessary to tightly wrap the feet of young females in order to block the normal growth (O’Neil n.d.). Acclimatization, the third type of adaptation, unlike the previous type, is reversible. Such adaptation may
Using the Eurobarometer 83.4: Climate Change, Biodiversity, and Discrimination against Minority Groups (May-June 2015, ICPSR 36403) for the purpose of comparing various counties in the European Union. Eurobarometer is a series of public opinion surveys conducted regularly on behalf of the European Commission. The scope of the project would be to look into the information given in the Eurobarometer and to compare why some countries have common characteristic while others have a great range between them on certain characteristics. In addition, it covers these various countries the geographic coverage is Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden. From a time period of 2015-05-30--2015-06-08.