Journey Of Man, A Geneticist-Spencer Wells: Film Analysis
We've gone far on the planet, we have traveled to places for survival, hunting & using our knowledge to get us where we are. We are one of the most advanced and smartest of mammals. We are… humans. We started out in the place you'd least expect and by doing so, we depended on whatever the earth gave us. With that, our beliefs formed, and we worshipped what we thought had life. We stayed together in tight groups, protecting one another… until we spread. Within the separation, we meet new dangers and obstacles such as harsh weather, new edible specimens of food, and we even came up with new ideas. For the past 50,000 years human society has changed our location, thoughts, and inventions. And through this we've managed to stay alive. Mountains, lakes hills, plains, these are all examples of physical & environmental systems on earth; characteristics of physical geography. In the film, Journey of Man, a geneticist- Spencer Wells- takes a trip to places where the first humans were thought to live in; but following a DNA map, he traveled to the places they spread to. According to Wells, humans started out in
…show more content…
Africa, in the Kalahari Desert. But after a while, an Ice Age forced them out of their homeland and they spread out to other continents. The understand of physical geography was constantly important to these early tribes because they needed to know: Is there enough food? Is the weather adaptable? Can we make changes to accommodate us? These questions are important for survival, they wanted to make sure they weren't headed to a dead end. Climate was one major point. The temperatures went up and down causing herds of animals to move out to look for food. And since we are smart enough to know, we followed to where there was food. But then a brilliant idea popped into our heads! Agriculture. We learned that if you plant seeds in the ground, they would sprout and give fruits, therefore in Africa we started growing millet and yams, China was harvesting rice and in the U.S we started growing beans, corn, and squash. Aside from our domesticated animals, we were having a good feast everyday. And this method is so helping us to survive. We've seen climate changes, the temperature going crazy in some parts, in others not so much.
But spreading to other places across the globe caused physical and mental changes. Physically, we changed because we needed to adapt. Those who moved to cooler areas shrunk down a few sizes to preserve body heat; in tropical areas, they got taller and broader to release body heat and move quickly in case of danger. We developed new skin tones along with that & even appearances started to distinguish us. When I say mental changes, I meant that now that we were living in a different environment, our inventions had to work with the new place & the demand. Our beliefs changed as well, at one point we could've been “All hail mighty father tree! “ while the next we are dirty lovers. These beliefs developed into religions that light up faith and hope in
us. Culture is the knowledge, attitudes & behaviors all tied down that are passed down from generation to generation. It includes relationships, languages, customs/traditions, food, music, and much more. Back in the 1900’s women would wear high-waisted jeans, and the next minute it's ripped jeans. But today that fad has come back. Culture and ideas are always changing through innovation. We create ideas that make us happy and we spread them out through diffusion. Hinduism was concentrated in India, but through diffusion, it has spread all across the globe. Lastly, acculturation happens when an idea is widely accepted. For example, we used to think that everything in our solar system (including the sun) revolved around the earth. But then a new thought came in and we all accepted that, in fact, the sun was in the center and everything else revolved around in orbit to it. Culture changes all the time, and you never know when or why… After all, we continue surviving on this planet, finding cures for diseases, looking at new places to stay a community, discovering new things, and inventing possibilities & adapting to or changing environment. We made it this far- the 21st century- for the last 50,000 years with farming, believing in ourselves, and adapting to the changes. Question is: what coming next?
Africa, in the Kalahari Desert. But after a while, an Ice Age forced them out of their homeland and they spread out to other continents. The understand of physical geography was constantly important to these early tribes because they needed to know: Is there enough food? Is the weather adaptable? Can we make changes to accommodate us? These questions are important for survival, they wanted to make sure they weren't headed to a dead end. Climate was one major point. The temperatures went up and down causing herds of animals to move out to look for food. And since we are smart enough to know, we followed to where there was food. But then a brilliant idea popped into our heads! Agriculture. We learned that if you plant seeds in the ground, they would sprout and give fruits, therefore in Africa we started growing millet and yams, China was harvesting rice and in the U.S we started growing beans, corn, and squash. Aside from our domesticated animals, we were having a good feast everyday. And this method is so helping us to survive. We've seen climate changes, the temperature going crazy in some parts, in others not so much.
But spreading to other places across the globe caused physical and mental changes. Physically, we changed because we needed to adapt. Those who moved to cooler areas shrunk down a few sizes to preserve body heat; in tropical areas, they got taller and broader to release body heat and move quickly in case of danger. We developed new skin tones along with that & even appearances started to distinguish us. When I say mental changes, I meant that now that we were living in a different environment, our inventions had to work with the new place & the demand. Our beliefs changed as well, at one point we could've been “All hail mighty father tree! “ while the next we are dirty lovers. These beliefs developed into religions that light up faith and hope in
us. Culture is the knowledge, attitudes & behaviors all tied down that are passed down from generation to generation. It includes relationships, languages, customs/traditions, food, music, and much more. Back in the 1900’s women would wear high-waisted jeans, and the next minute it's ripped jeans. But today that fad has come back. Culture and ideas are always changing through innovation. We create ideas that make us happy and we spread them out through diffusion. Hinduism was concentrated in India, but through diffusion, it has spread all across the globe. Lastly, acculturation happens when an idea is widely accepted. For example, we used to think that everything in our solar system (including the sun) revolved around the earth. But then a new thought came in and we all accepted that, in fact, the sun was in the center and everything else revolved around in orbit to it. Culture changes all the time, and you never know when or why… After all, we continue surviving on this planet, finding cures for diseases, looking at new places to stay a community, discovering new things, and inventing possibilities & adapting to or changing environment. We made it this far- the 21st century- for the last 50,000 years with farming, believing in ourselves, and adapting to the changes. Question is: what coming next?