Ecolog:
Many people seem to be greatly influenced by the long-famous drawing of the
"ascent" of "man" that depicts a small and quadripedal primate at the rear
of a line of increasingly upright and bipedal individuals, with Homo sapiens
in the lead. Do you think this concept is accurate and this example is
factual or misleading?
Does anyone teach a concept of progressive evolution?
Does anyone teach a concept of evolution that emphasizes change in organisms
that is in response to environmental change?
How would you best summarize your approach to teaching evolution?
If you are not a teacher, how would you summarize your own concept of
evolution?
WT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Hilton Jr. (RESEARCH)" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 11:40 AM
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Intelligence Who is the greatest of them all?
It's amazing how many folks don't even accept that humans are animals,
in that "we're" supposed to have dominion over "them."
BILL
==========
On Sep 18, 2009, at 2:06 PM, Warren W. Aney wrote:
I agree with Tom: I don't think we can generalize.
Some religions do profess the superiority of humans over the
animals, end of
story. However, many religions now agree that any such superiority
carries
with it a divinely directed duty to act within creation as care-taking
stewards rather than outside of creation as exploiting overlords.
And some evolutionary scientists might ask how you define "most
advanced" --
in terms of species' specialization, Malcom's bovine might be
considered
more advanced than humans, e.g, hooved instead to toed feet are
better for
running, a complex digestive system is better for processing a wide
variety
of plant materials, a better sense of smell and hearing, more
efficiently
spaced estrus cycles, etc.
Warren W. Aney
Senior Wildlife Ecologist
Tigard, OR
-----Original Message-----
From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of malcolm McCallum
Sent: Friday, 18 September, 2009 08:55
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Intelligence Who is the greatest of them all?
Do Hindu's believe this?
I thought the bovine was the top of the caste system?
I am reminded of an east asian religion (which one I do not remember)
that believed humans
were lice on God's head..... Not sure where that fits in.
On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 7:23 AM, Tom Cuba <[email protected]>
wrote:
Please consider the number of humans on the planet, their wide
variety of
both stereotypical and highly personal beleifs and ask if a
generalization
such as this is even properly posed.
Tom Cuba
Ecolog:
Would you please assess the following
statement for its veracity and
completeness? Is it misleading in
any way, especially with respect to
evolutionary biology?
"Humans consider themselves to be above 'the
animals,' believing that they
are superior, either chosen by
'God' or are products of an evolutionary
process in which they
are the most highly developed example of that
process, the most
highly 'advanced' species."
WT
--
Malcolm L. McCallum
Associate Professor of Biology
Managing Editor,
Herpetological Conservation and Biology
Texas A&M University-Texarkana
Fall Teaching Schedule:
Vertebrate Biology - TR 10-11:40; General Ecology - MW 1-2:40pm;
Forensic Science - W 6-9:40pm
Office Hourse- TBA
RESEARCH PROGRAM
c/o BILL HILTON JR. Executive Director
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
1432 DeVinney Road, York, South Carolina 29745 USA
(803) 684-5852
Please visit our web sites (courtesy of Comporium.net):
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History at
http://www.hiltonpond.org
"Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project" at
http://www.rubythroat.org
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