Human Variation

            The cold can negatively impact the survival of humans and disturbs our bodies’ homeostasis by dropping our core body temperature. A normally person’s body temperature is 98.6 degrees, with some variations because of body size. When a person’s core body temperature drops below 94 degrees, hypothermia begins to occur. Hypothermia is when your body is losing heat faster than it can produce it. This can result in death if the temperature continues to drop because your heat, nervous system, and organs cannot function properly.

            A developmental adaptation that occurs is the evolution of more compact and round bodies of people who live in colder weather. Less surface area is exposed and individuals are therefore better able to retain heat. People also wear heavier more insulated clothing which is a cultural adaptation. A short term adaptation is the narrowing of blood vessels near the skin surface to store more body heat by limiting blood flow. Lastly, a facultative adaptation is the eating of high calorie foods. This intake leads to an increased basal metabolic rate, which creates extra body heat.

            The benefit of studying human variation from this perspective is understanding that many traits develop as a result of our environment that we live in, not because of our race. For example, many people would say the Eskimo “race” tends to be rounder. This is not because of their race, but exists as a result of the cold climate they live in. Their excess body weight in their torso creates more heat for them and has developed as a way to better survive and adapt.  This information could be used to educate ignorant people who stereotype races and their traits based off their skin color.

            Human variation is better than using race as a measure of traits because it reveals the true underlying cause for why a trait may have developed. As previously mentioned, Eskimos tend to be more overweight as a result of their adaptation to a colder climate. The wearing of warmer, heavier clothes, for instance, can be attributed to many “races”, but not because their race genetically predisposes them to this. They need to wear this clothing in order to survive in their environment.

            

Language

            I found this experiment to be much more difficult than the second experiment. I was allowed to make facial expressions and use my body in order to describe my emotions, but I was very limited in my ability to give a substantial response. My partner in the conversation was almost frustrated in a sense because I was not really answering or contributing much to the conversation. It was much more of a one way street. He ended up asking me much more direct and simple questions, ones that I could answer with a yes or no. The conversation also took on a much slower pace, since he had to spend a lot of time trying to understand what I was saying.

If my partner and I were representing two different cultures, then he would have the advantage as the speaking culture in expressing complex ideas. He has the language capacity to express his culture’s behaviors and traditions in great detail, whereas I could only imitate briefly. The speaking culture would possibly have a superior attitude toward the other culture because they would feel more advanced since they know how to speak. They might even believe the other culture is stupid. Deaf people are one subset of individuals who do not use spoken language and I believe they are treated differently as a result. Speaking people will often whisper around deaf people or treat them as though they are inferior. This behavior is extremely ignorant since they can communicate just as effectively as we can.

            This experiment was easier than the first one, but still very difficult to accomplish. My partners were having trouble understanding my emotions and reactions to what they were saying. I was not showing any facial expressions and I used a very monotonous tone in my voice, thus masking any feelings I had about the conversation. We were able to have a fully functioning conversation, but it was very serious and my partners seemed confused about my attitude. They even asked me a few times how something made me feel which was odd to hear.

This experiment reveals the importance of body movements, gestures, and facial expressions in our language. They communicate something much deeper than words, and are a key part of forming connections with people. They can help us express our feelings, tell if someone is uncomfortable or lying, show sympathy, and so on. Unfortunately, there are some people who are unable to read body language. Often times, individuals with Asperger syndrome cannot read body language and they take what someone says at face value, without reading in to it. For example, if someone was being sarcastic, they would not catch on to this. The advantage to being able to read body language, as previously mentioned, might be when someone is being sarcastic with you, you are able to recognize this and play along. Or if someone has just been hurt what something you have said, but they say “I’m okay”, you can read their body language and facial expression and see they are clearly not okay.