Dichotomy

SacoyaPedersenLyman
SaltLakeCommunityCollege
ProfessorGraham
03/22/2016

AccordingtoUnitedStatesCensusBureau(2016),thecurrentworldpopulationisat7.313
billionpeoplelivingonourearth.Withinourworld,thereisseveralculturesthathavedifferent
socialpatternsandbeliefs.MyhypothesisafterreadingCrocettiandJamesarticlesisthe
dichotomybetweentheperspectivesofscienceandcultureuponhumanvariationislinkedtoour
socialbehaviors.Biologicallywecanbemadeupofsimilargenesandbeconsideredanormal
human,butactextremelydifferentbasedonourcultureandenvironmentthatwearecurrently
livingin.

Humanvariationisadirectexampleofhownaturalselectionoccurs.Mutationshaveoccurredto
allowustoadaptoverthepastsixtyyearsinorderforustosurviveeasier,suchasadaptingto
climatechanges.Somepartsoftheworldexperiencecoldclimates,whereasothersexperience
extremediversityresultinginclimaticstresses.James(2010)stated,AfricanAmericansliving
inthetemperatureandfreezingclimatesofNorthAmericaarelikelytoexperiencechroniccold
stressthroughthewintermonths,beingpotentiallyexposedtochronicvasoconstriction...It
shouldalsobenotedthatsympathetichormonereceptorsamongappeartobemoresensitivethan
amongEuropeanAmericans.(Pg.163)

Jamesarticleisproofthathumanshaveadaptedtotheirclimatesandmutationshaveoccurredto
allowustosurvivethesetypesofconditions,dependingonourenvironment.Thisisvery
relevanttomylifebecauseIhavegrownupinUtahmyentirelife.WhenIgotoArizonainthe
Springandits60degreesthere,itfeelslikeverywarmweathertome.Meanwhile,everyonein
Arizonaiswearingcoatsandtothemitfeelscolderthanwhattheyareusuallyusedto.Ihave

adaptedtomycoldweatherenvironmentandeventheextremediversityofweatherthatUtah
receives.
AfterWorldWarII,Bergmannstestwasexperimentedtoseeifhumansaresimilartoanimals
inthewaywepreservebodyheat.Thisisrelevantbecauseourbodysizeandenvironmental
climatechangesdoeshaveanaffectoneachother.Ahumansorganscannotexceedabody
temperatureof104.7degrees.Ifitexceedsthattemperature,thebodyorgansbegintoshutdown
andcannotfunctionproperly.Thesamethingshappenifabodytemperaturegetsbelow
87.889.8degrees.Sciencehasallowedustohelppreventthesethingsfromhappening,suchas
sweatingwhenwegettoowarm.

Thereisadirectconnectionbetweentheamountofmelaninandadaptingtoultravioletradiation
dependingonyourenvironment.Overtheyears,wehavebegintoproducemoremelaninwhich
helpspreventsunburnsandpossiblyevenskincancer.Utahisfartherawayfromtheequator,
thereforeweseelighterskininourpopulationanditsmucheasiertogetsunburned.Tropical
placesthatareneartheequatoroftenhavedarkerpigmentationintheirskinbecausetheyarein
thesunmoreoftenandhaveadaptedtotheultravioletradiation.

Onepersonalbeliefofmineisthatbecausemanypeoplehaveproblemswiththeirtonsils,a
mutationhasoccurredthathasallowedhumanstoabletolivewithoutthemandcontinueonwith
ourliveswithouttonsils.IpersonallywassickerthanIeverhavebeenforonewholeyearbefore
receivingatonsillectomyandremovingtheinfection.Itsbecomingmorecommoninour
everydaylives,weareseeingmoreindividualsgettingtheirwisdomteethandgallbladderout

becausewehaveadaptedtobeabletogetthesepartsofourbodysurgicallyremoved,without
passingaway.Itisclearthatwecanstillliveahealthylifestylewithouttheseorgans.

Inthetwentiethcentury,therehasbeenadistinctdifferencebetweengenderandsexnow.Sexis
basedonthegenotypeandiftheindividualhasanXYorXXchromosomes,whereasgenderis
morebasedonthephenotypeandphysicalcharacteristicsthatcanalsobeasubjectiveperception
oftheindividual'ssex.Recentlyourculturehasbeenmuchmoreacceptingofthosethatareborn
acertainsex,butchoosetoliveadifferentgenderlifestyle.Theseculturalchangeshavebeen
seenbyourgovernmentandnewlawshavebeenputinplacethatallowsamegendermarriage.I
believebecauseourculture/socialgroupsaremoreaccepting,peoplearefinallyshowingwho
theytrulyareandwhattheyfeelontheinside.Becauseofmedicalscience,weareabletogive
thoseindividualshormonestohelp.AccordingtoCrocetti(2013),Hormonaltherapycanmake
apersonfeelandlookmoreliketheiractualgenderidentityhowever,hormonaltherapywillnot
changeapersonsideaofwhotheyare.Hormonesareinsteadcatalystsforphysical,mood,and
energychanges...Fortransgenderedpeople,hormoneshelpadjusttheirbodytofittheiridentity.
(Pg.2930)

Dietisalsoagreatexampleofsocialbehaviorsthatleadtotheculturaldifferencesinhuman
variation.Thefoodthatweconsumecanoftengiveushealthproblems.Someonewithhealth
problemsthatreproduces,canhavecomplicatedpregnanciesleadingtothebabyhavinghealth
issuesorcomingprematurely.Culturally,Americansareknownforeatingmoreunhealthyfoods
thanotherpartsoftheworld.AccordingtoAmirKhanwithU.S.News(www.usnews.com),the

UnitedStatesisthenumberoneobesecountryintheworld.Ourspecificsocialbehaviorsin
Americaencouragetherisingobesityproblem,thatalsocomeswiththerisinghealthproblems.

Wehaveseenculturalchangesinbeingmoreacceptingofthedifferencebetweensexand
gender,butwehavealsoencouragesomebehaviorssuchasdietthatiscausingahuman
variationwithinourhealth.Forallthereasonsstatedabove,Istronglybelievethathuman
variationisconnectedtooursocialbehaviorsandenvironmentthatwearelivingin.Several
adaptationshaveoccurredtoallowustosurviveintheenvironmentwearelivingin,suchas
producingmoremelanin,adaptingtoourcurrentclimates,andevenbeingabletosweattocool
downourbodyheat.

References:

Crocetti,D.(2013).GenesandHormones:WhatMakeUpanIndividualsSex.2332.

James,G.(2010).ClimateRelatedMorphologicalVariationandPhysiologicalAdaptationsin
Homosapiens.153166.

Khan,A.(2014,May28).AmericaTopsListof10MostObeseCountries.RetrievedMarch23,
2016,from
http://health.usnews.com/healthnews/healthwellness/articles/2014/05/28/americatopslistof1
0mostobesecountries

MyWeebly:
www.sacoyapedersen.weebly.com

Coursework>GeneralEducation>Anth1020