William Cannon

Anthropology Reflection
Of the many things I have learned about the origin of humans and the genus homo
the main topic that still perplexes me are the differences between pre-australopithecines,
australopithecines, and the genus homo. The distinction between australopithecines and
homo is quite clear to me, however I often find myself confusing australopithecines and
pre-australopithecines perhaps due to the broadness of these categories and the
similarities between the two.
My personal AHA moment occurred while I was doing research for my paper
on why we evolved laughter. This research brought me to the realization that everything
we do and have evolved to do serves a purpose or as a means to survive. The moment
when I realized that something as basic as laughter was so crucial that we developed two
evolutions for it was my AHA moment.
Biological anthropologists view evolution as a widely accepted theory that has
been tested and has innumerable empirical evidence in its support. This theory really
gained momentum when Charles Darwin discovered a variation of beaks between
populations of finch on the Galapagos Islands. This variation was seen to have been
adapted amongst each varying population of finch from a common ancestor. This began
the working theory that species bodies change over time in reaction to their environment
and needs for survival and reproduction. They call evolution a theory in the same respect
as they call gravity a theory, meaning that it is deeply founded in scientific observation
with all evidence in support of it.