Human Origins

"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution

The chapter on Human Origins discusses the ideas created on how and why our species origniated. This is such a large debate and many arguments have been created in regard to the issue. My personal view is that I believe there is truth in both ideas. I believe that there is a Higher Power and that we have evolved. I believe that we evolve every day. Without some sort of evolution, we would act like the cavemen we once were! How unfortunate would that be!

Human Origins is defined as where and when the human species originated. This has been a powerful argument for many decades. It has been many scientists goal to discover where and how we came to be who we are. A major argument within this controversy is the creationism vs. evolution. The argument is stated that within creationism we were created by a Higher Power and that the idea we evolved from animals is unreasonable. Without hard evidence of either idea, we have yet to discover how the human race came to be.


Everyone is going to have their own opinion when it comes to where and when we came to be the society of people we are today.  This discussion can get very heated and hit a "nerve" for many because they feel so strongly about their view.

The  most important thing when considering human life are the concern of ourselves, our universe, where we come from, our ultimate destiny and the realtionships we develop with other humans.

While science is always evolving itself, modern science suggests that the human species developed in Africa approximately five to seven million years ago and evolved from ape-like creatures. This idea is commonly known as Darwin's theory of evolution. Charles Darwin, an English biologist who devoted his life to proving his evolutionary theory. Darwin is responsible for the large acceptance of the idea of evolution.

Darwin stated that he believed we origninated from primates. The term "primates" is defined as a group of primates whose outstanding charachteristics are their larger, more complex brain function; high intelligence; and hands and feet adapted for grasping. This term includes human beings, apes and monkeys. It's very interesting that this idea includes human beings along with the "ape-like" creatures.

Origin Poem

First, the seed grew

inside the eggplant:

moist, dark, potent.

Knifed into the light, dried

on the sill,

tucked away a year.

In Spring, into soil,

moist and dark and potent,

life truly began again.

From the inside out,

the seed grew

a whole new world.

-Celia

 In recent years, scientists have extended their knowledge when it comes to DNA (dexoyribonuclic acid) which is a building block of genes. The more advanced knowledge developed in the 1970's when a single gene was split. The purpose of this experiment was to map, or identify all human genes which is referred to as the Human Genome Project.

Years later, with the research of genes and how they are constructed the idea was announced that if scientists could alter a gene, they could hold some sort of control over living organisms. This brought up the idea of cloning which would completely replicate a organisms gene structure.

Another strong argument is that the idea of creationism is silly and not realistic. Many argue that we have come from a Spiritual Being rather than evolving. Each culture has their own God that they pray to.

There will always be an argument when it comes to how life came to be the way it is. There's nothing wrong with having your own views and ideas. If we all had the same views and ideas, how interesting would that be? I'd have to say, not very.

"Man - A being in search of meaning." - Plato