As a senior editor at the world renown Scientific Journal Nature, I was surprised when Dr. Gee approached me, and offered to have an early copy of his book sent to me for review. Let’s just say I was a little in shock that someone who had such a prolific career would be interested in my opinion, but you bet I snatched up that opportunity as fast as I could! Let me just say, as you will hear, if you have not already read the review (Catch that Here), I really, really like this book. And thats not just because I am part of the release campaign 😉 It really is a great book.
Firstly, its nice, despite how much I love it, to do something involving science a little outside of my typical field of Anthropology, do not get me wrong, there is plenty of that in this great little book, about a solid third of it, but the story prior is just as amazing and interesting. I truly learned so much.
Releasing Nov. 9th 2021, A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth by Dr. Henry Gee is not a book for STEM educators or enthusiasts to miss!
I loved spending the time I did with Dr. Gee, he is truly a funny, and passionate guy! We had a great chat, that could have gone on for hours, and would have had “Leti”, the new H. naledi child skull found by Lee Berger et al. not been announced immediately prior at five in the morning!
I am honored to call Dr. Henry Gee, author, and editor at Nature among many other things, as one of our guests here at W.O.P.A. Hopefully we can continue to work together to promote science education!
Be sure to view our interview with Dr. Brophy, lead author on one of the papers describing this amazing find!
Well Good Morning!
What an exciting day it is for the World of Paleoanthropology, anthropology, and archaeology in general!
I had the delight of waking up at 5 am this morning, (did I just say delight?) to watch the live press conference delivered by Dr. Prof. Lee Berger and his esteemed international team of scientists who have been working the past few years, almost a decade now, on the Rising Star Cave System, now famously known for being the richest Hominin fossil site in all of Africa, and in all of History in fact.
I am of course talking about Homo naledi. One of the newest species to join our braided family stream.
H.naledi is an amazing mosaic of evolution, a creature that by everything we know about Human Origins, should not really exist, at least not when and where it did. Dating to 230-340kya, these fossils show that Naledi was actually walking the African Savannah’s right alongside us, and possibly other hominin species.
Did we interact? Was there ad-mixture? These are questions that we find difficult to answer based on the present evidence and lack of DNA, but we have learned a great deal about H.naledi from it’s morphology of the over 2000 fossil fragments (Give or Take) that have been recovered thus far, and as Prof. Berger is known to say, “Never Stop Exploring!”
Homo naledi was a small, surprisingly ancient looking (but with modern features such as the hands and feet) hominin that inhabited at least the range of South Africa, as far as we know as of the writing of this. We do not know much about their behavior…but one possible detail is becoming ever more clear.
Did Homo naledi ritualistically bury their dead? Well, today’s revelations may shed more light on that!
So just what exactly was announced today? I would like to present to you all, Leti.
“An international team of researchers, led by Professor Lee Berger from Wits University, has revealed the first partial skull of a Homo naledi child that was found in the remote depths of the Rising Star Cave in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site near Johannesburg, South Africa.”-Wits University
This is an absolutely stunning find, one that is nearly unmatched in its rarity. Hominin children skulls are one of the hardest things to come by, and Human Fossils are some of the rarest items in the world to begin with!
Please read the following information, provided by Dr. Berger and Wits University to learn all about this amazing, and stunning find that was just announced less than an hour ago!
“An international team of researchers, led by Professor Lee Berger from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa (Wits University) has revealed the first partial skull of a Homo naledi child that was found in the remote depths of the Rising Star cave in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Describing the skull and its context in two separate papers in the Open Access journal, PaleoAnthropology, the team of 21 researchers from Wits University and thirteen other universities announced the discovery of parts of the skull and teeth of the child that died almost 250,000 years ago when it was approximately four to six years old.
The first paper, of which Professor Juliet Brophy of Wits and Louisiana State University is lead author, describes the skull, while the second paper, of which Dr Marina Elliott is the lead author describe the context of the area and circumstances in which the skull was discovered.
The child was found in an extremely remote passage of the Rising Star Cave System, some 12 meters beyond the Dinaledi Chamber, the original site of discovery of the first Homonaledi remains that were revealed to the world in 2015.
“Homo naledi remains one of the most enigmatic ancient human relatives ever discovered,” says Professor Lee Berger, project leader and Director of the Centre for Exploration of the Deep Human Journey at Wits University and an Explorer at Large for the National Geographic Society. “It is clearly a primitive species, existing at a time when previously we thought only modern humans were in Africa. Its very presence at that time and in this place complexifies our understanding of who did what first concerning the invention of complex stone tool cultures and even ritual practices.”
Almost 2000 individual fragments of more than two dozen individuals at all life stages of Homo naledi have been recovered since the Rising Star cave system was discovered in 2013.
“This makes this the richest site for fossil hominins on the continent of Africa and makes naledi one of the best-known ancient hominin species ever discovered,” says John Hawks, a biological anthropologist and lead author of a previous study on the fossil skeleton of a male naledi nicknamed “Neo” that was also found at the Rising Star cave.
The skull of the child presented in the current study was recovered during further work in the cramped spaces of the cave in 2017. The child’s skull was found alone, and no remains of its body have been recovered. The team have named the child “Leti” (pronounced Let-e) after the Setswana word “letimela” meaning “the lost one”. Leti’s skull consists of 28 skull fragments and six teeth and when reconstructed shows the frontal orbits, and top of the skull with some dentition.
“There were no replicating parts as we pieced the skull back together and many of the fragments refit, indicating they all came from one individual child,” says Darryl de Ruiter, a palaeoanthropologist who previously led a study of the adult skull of H. naledi and who is a co-author on the paper.
“This is the first partial skull of a child of Homo naledi yet recovered and this begins to give us insight into all stages of life of this remarkable species,” says Juliet Brophy, who led the study on Leti’s skull and dentition.
The discovery of a hominin child skull is an extremely rare find in the fossil record as juvenile remains tend to be thin and extremely fragile. “Having skull remains associated with teeth of the same individual is extremely important for understanding the growth and development of this species,” says Christopher Walker, an expert in growth and development.
Leti’s brain size is estimated at around 480 to 610 cubic centimetres. “This would have been around 90% to 95% of its adult brain capacity,” says Debra Bolter, co-author on the paper and a specialist in growth and development. “The size of Leti’s brain makes it very comparable to adult members if the species found so far,” says Bolter.
It has yet to be established how old Leti’s remains are. However, since other fossils of Homo naledi were found in the nearby Dinaledi Chamber and dated to between 335 and 241 thousand years ago, Tebogo Makhubela, part of the geological team investigating the discovery believes that it is likely that Leti is from a similar period, based on preservation and proximity.
Leti’s remains were discovered in a tight passage that measures only 15 centimetres wide and 80 centimetres long and was located just beyond an area named the “Chaos Chamber”.
“The area where Leti was found is part of a spiderweb of cramped passages,” says Maropeng Ramalepa, a member of the exploration team responsible for bringing the remains to the surface. Marina Elliott, one of the original “Underground Astronauts” in the first Rising Star expedition that originally uncovered Homo naledi and the leader of the excavation team that recovered Leti described the challenge of excavating Leti as “very difficult”. “This was one of the more challenging sites with hominin fossils we have had to get to in the Rising Star system,” says Elliott.
Since its discovery the Rising Star cave system has become one of the most prolific sites of discovery for hominin fossils in the world. Berger says that work is continuing throughout the cave system and that soon new discoveries are likely to shed further light on whether these chambers and passages are in fact a burial ground of Homo naledi, as the team originally hypothesised.
“I do not believe there is another site quite like Rising Star,” says Steve Churchill, a palaeoanthropologist and co-author on both papers. “This is now the third locality we have described from this system with naledi remains, and we know through exploration that there are other localities.”
With no signs of carnivore damage or damage made by scavenging, and no evidence of the skull having been washed into the narrow passage, the team does not know how Leti’s skull came to rest, alone, in such a remote and inaccessible part of the system. The authors hypothesise that it is likely other members of its species were involved in the skull reaching such a difficult place.
“The discovery of a single skull of a child, in such a remote location within the cave system adds mystery as to how these many remains came to be in these remote, dark spaces of the Rising Star Cave system,” says Berger. “It is just another riddle among many that surround this fascinating extinct human relative.”
They have even had the foresight and were nice enough to provide us with an already prepared Fact Sheet and Q/A to answer some of your most basic questions!
Q/A
“What does the name of the child “Leti” mean?
The word “Leti” is short for “Letimela” which means “the lost one” in the Setswana language. Setswana is one of South Africa’s 11 official languages and one of the languages commonly spoken in the part of South Africa where Leti was discovered. The word “naledi” means “star” in the Sesotho language, and the word “Dinaledi” means “stars”.
Was Leti a male or female?
We do not know if Leti was a male or female. Future studies using such methods as ancient proteins may establish its sex.
Where in the Rising Star cave system was Leti found
The Rising Star cave system has more than two kilometres of passages and chambers. Leti was found in an extremely narrow passage that is 15cm wide by 80 cm in length. The fragmented remains were found on a shelf of limestone about 80cm above the present cave floor. The passage is about 12 meters away from the Dinaledi Chamber and adjacent to a chamber known as the “Chaos Chamber”.
Could the skull have been carried there by a scavenger or predator, or been washed into the passage?
How the skull of the child came to rest in this remote location remains a mystery. However, there is no visible predator or scavenger damage on any parts of the skull, nor is there any evidence that suggests that the sediments surrounding Leti have been moved by water or other means, that may have resulted in the depositing of the skull into this remote location.
Was Leti buried?
It is not known whether Leti was buried in the passage or whether her bones were placed there. The situation is very similar to the way Neo, and adult male Homo naledi from the Lesedi Chamber of the Rising Star system, in that he was also found in a narrow passage. However, there have been no remains of Leti’s body found yet. The situation where Leti’s skull was found is very difficult to access, making excavation difficult, but at this stage it appears that only Leti’s skull was in the passage.
How old was Leti when she died?
Based on dental eruption, Leti would have been about 4 to 6 years old when she died if she matured like a human. But at present we have not established exactly how fast Homo naledi children grew, so it is possible she was younger.
How big was Leti’s brain?
While her brain is only preserved in fragments, comparison of the curvature and length of these remains lets us compare her brain to similar sized individuals like the Taung skull of Australopithecus africanus, which has a very similar sized braincase it appears. Thus, we can estimate that Leti’s brain capacity would have been around 450 to 610 cubic centimetres. Based on her developmental age, this would mean Leti’s brain would be about 90 to 95% of its adult size when she died. Her adult brain size would therefore have been similar to other members of her species had she reached adulthood.
Did Leti look the same as other Homo naledi individuals?
One of the important aspects of Leti’s discovery is that she has skull fragments associated with teeth. These are the first skull fragments of a child of Homo naledi described so far and so they can only be compared to adult crania at this time. However, the shape of the front of the skull, know as the glabella is preserved and is very similar in shape to adult naledi’s in this region. Leti’s teeth are all very similar to those of other Homo naledi in their shape, size and form.
Do we know how Leti died?
There are no signs of injury on Leti’s skull, although it is in many fragments, so we don’t know what caused her death.
How long ago did Leti live?
We cannot date the area where Leti was discovered but the remains of other Homo naledi found nearby date to between 236,000 and 335,000 years ago and at this time it is hypothesised that Leti is the same age as these nearby remains.
Did Leti walk upright?
Since we don’t have any bones from Leti’s body we have to look at those of other specimens of Homo naledi to establish how they walked and these all walked on two legs. As Leti’s skull and teeth don’t differ from other remains of naledi discovered, it is rather certain she also walked upright like her relatives.
Why is Leti’s skull important?
As this is the first skull remains of a child of Homo naledi discovered, and because there were teeth discovered in association with the skull remains, we can begin to develop a better understanding of the growth and development of the species. The adult anatomy of Homo naledi is already among the best known for any ancient hominin species and Leti’s adds to our understanding of how this remarkable species “grew up”. “- Wits University
Dr. Henry Gee, a Senior Editor at the esteemed, and one of the oldest scientific journals in the world, Nature, is coming out with a new book! This book, A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Pithy Chapters, Is a wonderful telling of, well us, and everything you see around you, and how you got here.
In A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth, Henry Gee zips through the last 4.6 billion years with infectious enthusiasm and intellectual rigor. Drawing on the very latest scientific understanding and writing in a clear, accessible style, he tells an enlightening tale of survival and persistence that illuminates the delicate balance within which life has always existed.
How we got here. Understanding, and learning this is a key to understanding where we are today, and where we are going tomorrow.
The history of this planet, of Earth, in one book! While of course, with the vast amount of time that is covered, it is impossible to go into detail in just about anything, but the author maintains a well-paced timeline of important events that summarize just what is going on to our planet at the time. From the start of our galaxy to the end of our planet’s long and tenuous life, this book covers everything in a well explained and honestly, just fun way. Reading this book is easy, aside from the names of all the unique species of animals discussed, but for those unfamiliar with scientific lingo if you break it down you start to see patterns and pick up on the names. This book was written for everyone in mind, and I think that Dr. Gee does a wonderful job at conveying all of this information. So, let’s get on with our review!
To start the book, we begin with the start of it all. At least all that we know as we currently understand it, the Big Bang. Illustrated with words beautifully, the cosmos and how it works are explained eloquently and in a way that makes such ideas as physics and astronomy easy to understand. It brings the stars down to the readers and makes them feel the cosmic dust in their bones, or at least that’s how I felt! From there, we go through the physical formation of the Earth as a planet, from the molten rock that it started as, to the burning Hell hole that it was, as acid filled the air. To the start, finally, 3.4 bya, when life finally started. It started small, single-celled organisms in the seas, living off of the basic nutrients that were available. We follow their lives through the eons and epochs of earth’s history, once again guided by a voice that becomes all too familiar, and one feels that they are in a time machine, with a tour guide explaining all that you see before you. It is unlike any other book on this time period I have ever read, and I would suggest anyone who is looking for understanding the ideas of how Life in general began, this is a good place to start.
Skipping ahead, we go through time, from one great extinction to another, and we learn of some of the fantastic beasts and creatures that lived in-between them. Their rise and fall. We discuss the dinosaurs, these amazing creatures, and how they evolved into the titans that they were. We explore ideas and continue on through time, viewing it all like a window passing by, we see the dinosaurs die. We see the world go through the tumult as it had never been through before. The asteroid that wiped the earth out, would be the key in setting up our deep ancestors for success, which eventually would lead to us.
Bringing us to the third section that I have divided this book into, we see the rise of mammals, and other small creatures after the remnants of the dinosaurs’ ashes covered the Earth. And yet, as is the key idea that I believe this book is trying to convey, is Life found a way. Despite all of the challenges that it had faced up until that point, Life was able to continue, and find new ways to grow to extremes and diversify in ways it had never done before. Towards the end of the book, we finally come to where we come in, and what a small section there is about us. This is appropriate, for, in the grand scheme of geologic time, we have, to take a word from the title, left a pithy mark on this planet. From there, we go into the future, discussing how Humanity’s population will finally begin to drop in 2100, and how after a few tens of thousands of years after that, we will be extinct, like so many other organisms that have gone before us.
If one continues to read, past the end of the book, and into the epilogue the tone changes, it is not all death and despair, and Dr. Gee even points out that he is only discussing life on THIS planet, not denying it could be found elsewhere, or that even we humans, despite how challenging may be able to find a habitable location elsewhere in this galaxy and beyond. I share a slightly more hopeful view, I think our species, as inventive as it is, will find a way, as it always has. For better or worse we are a species that is always on the edge, on the edge of immense technological power, or on the edge of complete destruction. When Humans are pushed to extreme lengths and life or death situations, as a species we seem to find a way. And I do not see that coming to an end any time soon. A (Very) Short History of Life non-Earth: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Pithy Chapters is an excellentbook I would recommend to all readers who find themselves interested in the history of Earth. From the extremely distant past and the start of life itself, to what may be our last battle on this planet, it is poignant and critical to understand where we are now, and why we have the challenges that we face today. In the scheme of things, we are a small blip, but as Dr. Gee says, and as is quoted in the book, this just makes it an even more convincing time to give life everything we have got.
10/10
Once its available (it may be in your country already) tomorrow, be sure to grab a copy from your local book stores, or here on amazon and other book sellers!
Be sure to catch my interview with Dr. Henry Gee which comes out later this week! We will discuss the book, what its about, and some great topics! Its going to be great!
I am excited to announce the following:At least at the current pace, and as things are going now, #WOPA will be sharing be posting Interviews and Morphology Videos on an alternating bi-weekly basis. AND, a paper published on our Academia at least once a week.
If you have any comments and or questions or would like to help out, let me know!
And if youre interested on being on the show, or me reviewing your work, get in touch with me as well Direct Message or email, whatever works!
Blog posts will continue on our blog as usual, with news being reported and content shared and created as normal, the more scholarly the topic, it will end up in Academia.
So we have a good amount of content being created and coming out! And of course as all of this is going on, we are here for the community to educate and make things accessible to all!
And of course, as all of this is going on, we are here for the community to educate and make things accessible to all! on the show, or me reviewing your work, get in touch with me as well Direct Message or email, whatever works!
This time on the show we have another awesome guest, Becca Peixotto! One of the original Underground Astronauts called into service by Dr, Lee Berger in 2013, she has had a wild ride ever since!
From going deep underground and working with some of the best minds in Anthropology, to having her image made of wax as part of an art piece showing off the potential of Women in STEM!
An educator, explorer, archaeologist, and down right awesome gal, Becca was a wonderful guest to have on the show! We would be happy to have her back any time!
I hope you enjoy the interview, if you have any comments or questions please feel free to contact me and let me know! All comments and questions/criticisms are welcome!
Within North American archeology, conventional wisdom has it that the Clovis people represent the continent’s earliest occupation around 12,000 years ago, after the ice sheets of the Last-Glacial Maximum, which would have made it impossible to travel via Beringia, receded. These early hunter-gatherers have long been blamed for the downfall of many megafaunal species, including the wooly mammoth. Not only are they known for their distinctive spear points thought to have been used to hunt large game, the extinction event during which 35 genera of North American megafauna met their demise occurred roughly in tandem with the arrival of the Clovis people. However, new research suggests that this damning evidence may turn out to be merely circumstantial, after all.
Fossilized human footprints discovered in White Sands National Park, New Mexico have provided new evidence surrounding the peopling of the Americas that may exonerate the Clovis people. Researchers involved analyzing the footprints applied radio-carbon dating to seeds found in sediments surrounding the footprints as well as the layers above, and below. Their results, published in one of the most prestigious academic journals, Science, date the footprints to 23,000 years ago, pushing humans’ arrival in the Americas back by millennia.
From the United Stats National Park Service
Even more interesting are the mammoth tracks found in the stratigraphic layers meters above the footprints’ location. As it turns out, early Americans coexisted with megafaunal species for much longer than previously thought. Dr. Sally Reynolds, paleontologist at Bournemouth University and co-author of the publication, commented, “It may well be that the humans were harvesting these megafauna as part of their killing and their hunting more sustainably in the earlier years, and potentially through time, as the populations grew, the balance of power shifted and the humans started perhaps overharvesting these megafauna.”
In accordance with this theory, several scholars have produced studies that suggest early humans were incapable of causing the complete collapse of the megafauna all on their own. Researchers with the University of Utah Department of Anthropology, David Byers and Andrew Ugan concluded that based on the caloric value of a mammoth, early hunters would have expended more energy than gained by exploiting these animals as a food source, thus discounting the plausibility of large-game specialization in the Pleistocene. Nonetheless, researchers have found definitive proof that early humans must have at least occasionally hunted megafauna based on archaeological kill sites attributed to the Clovis people.
In summary: while early humans certainly hunted megafauna, it is unlikely that they relied on these species to sustain them. Furthermore, fossilized footprints suggest that people arrived in the Americas long before megafaunal extinctions began to occur. Where does this leave us? In line with Dr. Sally Reynold’s thoughts about the matter it seems most likely that, while humans were able to hunt megafauna sustainably, something happened that caused overharvesting to occur. One possible cause is the climate change that occurred during the Pleistocene epoch. Complicating this debate, it remains unclear when continuous occupation of North America truly occurred. Are these fossil footprints indicative of a large human population in the area?
Despite the uncertainties that remain, this discovery provides an amazing look into the past, and is celebrated by paleoanthropologists as we continue to uncover details about human origins.
Author: Claire Brandes is a 4th year anthropology major at the University of Georgia with interests in paleoanthropology and paleoecology. She intends to enroll in an anthropology PhD program for the Fall of 2022.
References:
Bennett et al. (2021). Evidence of humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum. Science, 373, 1528-1531.
Bulte, E., Horan, R. D., & Shogren, J. F. (2005). Megafauna extinction: A paleoeconomic theory of human overkill in the Pleistocene. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 59(3), 297-323.
Byers, D. A., & Ugan, A. (2005). Should we expect large game specialization in the late
Pleistocene? An optimal foraging perspective on early Paleoindian prey choice. Journal of Archaeological Science, 32(11), 1624-1640.
Gershon, L. (2021, September 24). Prehistoric footprints push back timeline of humans’ arrival in North America. Smithsonian Magazine.
Wow! I feel like this time has been coming for so long, and I am so glad to finally have reached this point where I have this to present to you!
Please do not hold back, the only way I can improve on my videos and skill set is based off of constructive criticism, but please do me a favor by being fair, as this is the first video of its kind I have ever done.
I shall be doing these on a regular basis, and as I add to my collection!
I hope this can be an educational tool and resource for anyone out there who needs it, from teachers and schools to professors and institutions! Please, feel free to share and use this video in anyway you see fit, we just ask that you of course, cite your source.
This is but the first of many my friends!
Well, without further ado, here we go!:
So let’s learn a little about the species that I did not include in the video, in my next video I do want to include more information about the species, as this was my first video, some things slipped my mind that I wish was said.
Anthropology 423 Human Behavior: Evolutionary Perspectives
October 13, 2021
Nature vs. Nurture, How is this Still an Argument?
If you have access, you can also view and discuss the paper here, on Academia.edu.
In the “Dependent Gene” by David S. Moore, we learn a great deal of new things that the general public is not familiar with. Rather, id say we have even more to unlearn, but either way, Dr. Moore guides us along the path. The most important thing about this book is to come away from it with a better understanding of genetics, specifically the traits that they may, or may not cause. Without a base understanding of even “old” genetics and this book may get a little confusing. But the author does his best to navigate the waters of scientific vernacular. As mentioned, there is an old view on genetics, and what is now considered a new approach. We have come a long way with our understanding of genes, genetics, and how they are passed down. Way back in the days of Aristotle, we even thought it was possible that all the eggs a female possessed, had the entire animal inside them, fully formed, just on a miniature level. And then once they are born, or become pregnant, the animal, whatever it may be, will grow to the proper size of a newborn. Today, we know that things work a little differently than that and that genetics, and how traits and DNA are passed down are much more complicated, and for generations, erroneous ideas have run rampant. Genes, do not determine physical or psychological traits, they contribute, but they are not fully responsible. It is a combination of your DNA, your “Nature”, and the environment in which you were conceived, all the way through the end of your life, the environment adds, detracts, and changes from, we call this “Nurture”. Often this comes to a climactic point, but I hope that this paper will shed light on the complicated subject of Nature and Nurture.
So then, if one gene is one trait is not a correct view, despite it being a prevalent one, how does it work? Well, it’s a combination of both! The world that we are formed in, and live in thorough out our lives, plays a major role in our behaviors, and traits that we show physically, and just why and when we do. But, this knowledge is relatively new, in the world of Anthropology, which is only 2-300 years old, (Official Formed Societies) a few decades can change almost everything. When this book came out in 2003, it most likely sent everyone into a tizzy. Not to mention that was the year the Human Genome Project was completed, we had just begun to learn about our genome and genetics. And finally, here maybe was some proof and evidence to back up Moore’s ideas. The most important thing that we have to consider when reading this book, however, is that traits are not determined by just genes or just the environment we live in. It is a complex hierarchical series of interactions between the two that makes us who we are, and determine how we act, and respond in specific situations. The perspective that Moore suggests, for this idea to be the only one, and strongly so, is that of the Developmental Systems Perspective. What this means, is that A. We are not formed completely at the time of the egg’s formation, we change, adapt, and grow inside of our mother’s wombs until we are ready to be born. Everything that affects us in the womb, will play a major role in our development. From the nutrients, the Zygote is consuming and given, to the stress of the mother herself! Then, we can be pushed into the real world, and everything changes, our minds, and bodies are immediately exposed to an infinite amount of stimuli. Rarely can we just phase into our new roles in life. And oftentimes, things that we do when we are younger, we learn, through living, watching, and experiencing, that perhaps our behavior needs to be reviewed, or changed. Developmental Systems refer to the science and know-how of genes, and traits. The actual argument of Nature vs. Nurture, and while this is commonly used to refer to the LGBTIA+ community, I want to be clear these rules apply, and or more importantly do not imply just “the gay gene”, but rather all of our traits. We are formed both by the love and care we received as a child and from the DNA that our parents provided. There is no way to predict how the two will interact, and that is one of the major issues with cloning, we can do it physically, but it is not the same animal. We are products of this duality.
So then, what are we to do with this information? Well, that’s a more tricky question, as this information, this knowledge and data, if given to the wrong groups of people can be used for…there are no other words but evil. Chief amongst these groups of people to use genetics negatively were of course the Nazis. They ran countless horrific experiments and tests on a wide variety of people This is where Eugenics comes in. I don’t know if we will be covering that in this class, I do not think so, so I will leave it at that. The dangers of genetically based judgments are something hard to stay away from when you are elbows deep in these discussions. Often, too often, scientists will fall into traps laid out for them, to make them, or the field looks bad. But as we know today, the traits that the Nazis and others were looking for, are not attributed to a one-to-one gene ratio. Just as there is no “Gay Gene” there is no gene for blue eyes either. Does the DNA contribute and help with the outcome? Absolutely! But that’s the thing, it is a split, a cooperative effort of Nature vs. Nurture that allows us to adapt and survive within our own lives. It is not “Nature vs. Nurture”, it should be “Nature and Nurture.” Without their delicate and complicated set of reactions, we would be a much more bland animal and one that may not even be capable of surviving.
So then, what is “The Dependent Gene”? Well, I would have to say that the reference is to the idea that genetics alone can not get the job done, it needs help, I think the idea is, genes are dependent on the environment they find themselves in, and not just making “decisions” on bodily functions and behaviors on its own as it was once thought, and is continued to be taught in lower education and places without access to up to date scientific information. It is hard to change the minds of people who have thought one thing for so long, generations in fact. David S. Moore’s book completely challenges those ideas and hopefully will lead to a better understanding of the, when you think about it, simple idea that it is not just so simple as Nature vs. Nurture. But a much more informed and educated population, who can better grasp where we come from. As a Paleoanthropologist, this is a little out of my direct field, but it seems to me, that this idea makes perfect sense, and I do not see why people would argue with it, or what other ideas they may have to counter it. Of course, there are dissenting opinions and different views and methods of collecting data, it all seems to point back to the same thing. Nature vs. Nurture is a fallacy, one that we have had drilled into our brains so that we never questioned it, for whatever reason. But it is time to throw the sheets off and bring this book, Prof. Moore’s ideas to the front line.
I enjoyed this book, I learned a great deal. I knew genetics and trait dispersal etc. was not as simple as I was being taught in say, Biology 101, but even after just reading the introduction of the book, the hypotheses made perfect sense, and I had to concur with Prof. Moore. My entire life, as most of my classmates have, have lived in a world where everyone is questioning, “Am I a bad mom?” Is that while my child turned out this way? “Did I pass this on to my child and now they have to suffer”, some of these questions can be put to rest if this idea is accepted. There are just some things that are completely uncontrollable in the behavioral development of any animal. Often this occurs in orphanages specifically. Let’s put Nature vs. Nurture to rest, shall we agree to finally understand that it is in fact both! The two work in tandem to form what ends up being an adult, and hopefully functioning at that. But of course, things like mental illness can have a major effect on that, depending on the genes passed down from each parent. We humans think we have mastered it all, and understand everything, but there is so much left out there to learn, so much more knowledge to gain! With the aid of this book, I hope that I can personally help re-educate some people about what we all learned in grade school, and in unfortunate cases, all the way through first division courses. It is only when we get to the point of your class Professor, is when I suppose the institutions think we can wrap our heads around these complicated processes, and while there is of course much more to learn about this, and the complicated hierarchy they form, its time to acknowledge not every case of anything will prevent the same in two different people who have had completely different lives. We need to acknowledge that, even things like income and affect our development in the womb or as a small children. The Independent Gene does not exist, for any trait, there could be various genes involved and the influence of the outside world. The better we understand this, the more we will be able to help our own, and other species during these perilous times.
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