Translating Science for the Common Man (Dan Davis-Boxleitner)

This course has taught me just how complex the inner workings of our minds are. In order to fully understand what is occurring in our brain as me make decisions and lead our lives, we truly have to adapt to a new way of thinking. From our perspective we are simply following a “train of thought” or at least we see ourselves as an individual making decisions about what will best benefit us.

However, deep in the mind there is an extremely complex process of communication between neurons with multiple channels of information being transmitted simultaneously in order to achieve what we call a thought process. By looking at those who have suffered brain damage or disability we can try to selectively investigate the brain’s activity and begin to map this massive highway system which carries our signal traffic day and night. Suffice to say, there is a lot of new language here and painting a picture for non-scientists can be at times a monumental task.

I have also learned about the history of our biology, as we traced the human being back to its ancient ancestors and have observed the time line which has led to our current modern age. We are in almost all ways still an ancient man living in a world of complex tools which can easily overwhelm us. While we have evolved to roam the plains and hunt big game, we are currently confined mostly to small spaces where we work on reading, writing and speaking our labyrinthine language.

So what we must begin to understand is how our instincts work and what can be done to adapt our ancient hunter-gatherer bodies to the times. We also have to consider the impact of our technological advances on evolution itself. Have we surpassed the old process of evolution? This course has prepared me to explore this question and many more while still maintaining my ability to relate this process of discovery to someone with less scientific knowledge than myself.

The Learning in this Class by Megan Haughton

            During this class, I feel like I learned so much about different aspects of science that I haven’t really thought about before.  Most of the books, especially The Tell Tale Brain and The Female Brain caught my interest, and they are books that I plan to keep on my shelf as they interest me!  I loved out class discussions, especially because all of my classmates are involved into science, but in different areas.  I also enjoyed our media projects, and learning the process of putting videos onto you tube.  I-movie is actually quite a nice program, and it is great to have these tools.  Also, I enjoyed hearing all of the love-stories and learning about all of these female/male interactions.   It seems like no matter the situation, it is never exactly perfect in a relationship, and there are constant mysteries.  I very much enjoyed our class as a group, and I loved our teacher.  He brought up great points, and challenged us to think for ourselves.  I very much enjoyed this class.

Final: What I Have Learned by Isabelle Kohn (WRTG 3030:009)

            In this class, I have learned that the brain is an organ that is largely affected by the primal survival needs of our hominid ancestors. It is so much affected that the evolutionary drives to mate, to respond to innate cues in social status, and even to spend money, that it causes humans to think and act in primitive ways that translate into modern behaviors that we associate with our culture. We take so much of our behaviors as humans for granted, such as the ability to learn new tasks, that we overlook the underlying motivations for us to behave in certain ways, which manifest themselves in how the brain has dealt with evolutionary needs.

            I learned a great deal about love and relationships, and I was particularly fascinated by the hormonal response to love in humans, as well as the function that different types of love play. There is an overarching need for humans to perpetuate our kind, and the brain creates complex networks similar to those experienced by maniacs and addicts in order to lure us into love rituals that we carry out. I learned about the different hormones that cause us to feel love, or lust, and why these hormones cause us to behave like we do in love, which is again, a product of the evolutionary need to mate and reproduce the species.

            I was also interested in the neural differences between men and women that we discussed. I was surprised that the emotional recognition centers in men were actually smaller and less functional, while the aggressive brain centers in women were smaller and less function than in men. I learned a lot about the female brain, and the peculiar concoction of hormones that facilitate our emotions and actions. I was also surprised about the role of gender and sex in primates, particularly in Bonobos, who use sex as a kind of conflict resolution.

            I also learned about the war between science and religion, and how a blend between the two would be most effective in solving some of the world’s major crises, like climate change or human rights issues.

            I learned how to film and produce an interview, how to set up aesthetically pleasing shots, and how to conduct an interview properly as well.

Class Relection

Final Reaction Paper

            Since the end of August, the amount I have learned is in this class is overwhelming.  When I signed up to take the course, I figured it would be boring, forced reading/writing assignments that had nothing to do with my interests.  From day one, the class discussion and reading dealt with aspects of controversial science, evolution, and how behavior and the human brain act on elements of adaptation that as a species we have acquired.  It was interesting to look at daily interactions between humans, and relate them to our closest relatives: the primates that we really differ only slightly from.  My favorite part of the course that differed from most other classes was being able to see what other people thought.  The blog, listening to others read their papers aloud, as well as watching videos as a group, gave us a more open-minded experience.  The video interview project was really helpful in that most of the class is about to graduate within the next 6 months.  It was good to ask people in the field for advice, and get so much knowledge in different professions.  These are the people that have experience in different areas of science that each of us may want to seek after graduation.  It is important that we are able to use readings like “The Female Brain,” or “The Tell Tale Brain,” to understand so much about life after college.  We will be able to further recognize how people react and why.  It makes us appreciative that we can express our emotions, because we were shown what a simple brain injury could do to ones world.  We can also look deeper into the way we spend our money this holiday season.  This most recent video got me thinking, “do I buy things that I actually need over the holidays, or because they are on sale and look like a good deal.”  It is sometimes hard to justify the choices people make in our society; everything from committing horrific murders, to spending excessive amounts of money on items worth far less than purchased for.  However, when we look at where we came from, and the species that we evolved from… it becomes much easier to see where our tendencies come from.  Some of how our society works is based on cultural practices, norms, trends, etc; yet, we do see where biological instinct comes into play after this semester! 

EO Wilson: Reaction ~Holly Atkinson

E.O. Wilson’s book, The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth, is a necessary call to action for the environmental conflicts we face as a society, for people of faith and non-believers alike. He begins with a letter to a Baptist pastor, pointing out that, despite their differences, they can agree on a common respect for the Earth—God’s creation. This common ground between people at opposite ends of the spectrum suggests that anyone in between with a shred of common sense should feel the same way. The place that we call home provides life to us, and is obviously invaluable to our survival, and needs to be treated with respect. The Earth is resilient, yes, but there is a limit to the abuse she can sustain, a limit that we are quickly approaching.  

            Wilson then goes on to talk about species extinction, an alarming manifestation of our lack of environmental stewardship. Although genetic engineering technologies may advance to the point where we can preserve genes and later clone them, Wilson warns that this artificial strategy can never be implemented on a scale that would replace the biodiversity at the rate it is disappearing. The only way to reverse these effects is to preserve habitat now. This is an important point to make to those technological optimists who believe that technology can reverse the damage we have done to the natural environment. There is no practical way to emulate the complexity of natural ecosystems, a fact that needs to be understood by today’s society.

            Wilson says that we need to encourage enthusiasm for nature, and I could not agree more. Spending time in wilderness begets a spiritual connection to the Earth that is missed in urban life. I was lucky enough to grow up in the mountains and spent a lot of time outdoors as a child, which is why my passion for protecting the environment runs so deep. Wilson talks about ways to encourage students and children to love the Earth.   I agree that early exposure to nature is the first step to convincing people that the world needs saving, and that you can take steps to save it! Overall, I loved this book and found it very inspirational as I pursue my career in ecosystem restoration. Many of Wilson’s points echo views that I hold personally, and Wilson does a great job of presenting information in a way that is understandable and convincing to people of all religious and scientific persuasions. 

Reaction to Chapter 1-4 of The Creation

Reaction to Chapter 1-4 of The Creation

by Deanna Boyce

                In reading the first four chapters of E.O. Wilson’s The Creation, I was struck by his division between people. Although he is asking the religious sector to join with scientists to save the Earth, he does not address the community as a whole. He continues to separate the two groups although asking for help and unity.  You could say that there is the left wing group and the right wing. While reading these four chapters, I was reminded of the recent lawsuit that the organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).  PETA is a well-known organization for promoting animal rights and the protection of animals.  In this recent lawsuit, PETA is suing SeaWorld for enslaving the orcas.  Their case presents that the 13^th amendment does not say it is only for humans and that the animals are caught without consent, made to perform against their will, and have human intervention in the breeding process.  They say this is by definition slavery; however, if PETA wins then zoos and extinction programs would be considered slavery. In effect, PETA would be responsible for the extinction of many species. This lawsuit is a great counter-example to what Wilson is purposing. From what I got reading these chapters, Wilson is trying to explain that we are animals and should have all the same rights and liberties to the environment. The PETA lawsuit is trying to give human rights to the animals, but it would end up killing many.  I think Wilson is actually thinking about. . . well the white-man’s burden.  However, he is changing it to environmentalism and the human’s burden.

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/10/26/peta-sues-seaworld-parks-for-enslaving-orcas/

Creation: Chapters -4 Reaction

Creation

E.O. Wilson’s book, The Creation, opens with the idea of reconciliation between how science perceives creation as opposed to religion. The format is a letter that Wilson is sending to a Christian pastor with the intentions to “agree to disagree.” He states that it is clear that humans have disrupted the planet and as population continues to grow, we will continually deface the planet with our existence. Because I am an environmental biology major, and I specialize in endangered species conservation, this part was very important to me. Wilson knows that no matter what an individual believes about how the earth was created, we should make it a common goal to conserve the nature that we have.
Wilson is able to give his opinion in a liberal way, without really shutting down any of the religious beliefs. With this type of writing, it is easier to think that the religious side will take more of his opinions to heart. The problem here is that humans feel they are superior to the rest of the life on the planet. So many specoes on this planet before humans; and it is important to respect them and their natural habitat. Humans are relatively selfish in that many only care about the natural world if it will directly affect their wellbeing. What it is hard to point out is that almost every species on the planet directly affects humans in one way or another. Lastly, it is clear through these four chapters that people learn science in schools, but the extent of the natural destruction is not truly given. It is important that we take away such ignorance and voice these declines in species. It is difficult yet necessary to make humans aware that this extinction could have such a huge affect on humans that we too will be extinct if the human world does not begin to compromise and change daily actions.

Creation 1-4

Wilson begins the book with an appeal to a religious pastor. This is important in making the bridge as he is clearly preaching to all audiences about the importance of preservation. This struck a note with me, as I am not very religious at all, but many of my friends are and somehow we all seem to care deeply about the medium in which we get to play and live. Also, as he describes humanity through the period when we thought nature was infinite, he transitions to how we are negatively impacting it. This is something we can notice in absolutely everything we do. Cars, building, waste, and food are all things we take for granted because we don’t see the nature around where these products origins exist and how they have been changed. We as humans need nature and we routinely fail to give back to the system through which we take everything. As we came from nature, we are destroying our mother. Wilson, in creation, is trying to evoke a response in which humans begin to think regularly about how we can conserve

Summary of First 4 Chapters of “The Creation”

 

In “The Creation”, the author brings about the idea of religion in relationship to science and the beginnings of our Earth.  The first four chapters talk about all sorts of topics.  One of the first things that happens is the debate of religious beliefs in order to save creation.  Both science and religion play a huge part in society and the origins of our kind.  The education over these two subjects seems to be undermined and not talked about as much as they should.  The book also talks about the impact of extinction and organisms as they relate to the environment.  Finally in Chapter 4, the author talks about the destruction of humans and temperature changes as it impacts the entire Earth.

Relevant article

 

 

 

 

Roman-era couple held hands for 1,500 years

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44990654/ns/technology_and_science-science/#.TqPxTt6In3A