Similar to what has been already posted about the Jamaican runners, it has been stated that "athletic clusters are not genetic, but systemic" (Shenk 101). This shows that the excellent athletes "emerge in geographic clusters" (101). This shows that species do not evolve over time, but instead evolve within their own population. In another words, they evolve due to the abiotic factors rather than the biotic. Relating this idea to a part on page 44, it states, "Every human being (even a whole society) can grow smarter if the environment demands it" (44). This shows Shenk's stress on the development of human having to do with different types of biotic and abiotic factors of the environment.
How does this relate to the theme of interdepence in nature? Does the Flynn effect illustrate how intelligence is related to environment? (42) How would this relate/provide an explanation to the Flynn effect by James Flynn? What is resource partitioning and how does Shenk's concept involve with this idea? (Try looking at chapter 54 in the Campbell.) How could you relate Shenk's theory in terms of different cultures? State some examples.
Sally Park (sypark1029@gmail.com)
People depend upon their environment to provide food, water, and shelter. However, if this goes into jeopardy, then the people are at a loss because without those essentials they will not survive. The environment then depends on people to find a way to make the most efficient means to keep food, water, and shelter plentiful. For example, if the society is lacking energy and needs more to power its buildings but doesn’t want to harm the environment that provides them with so many other necessities, then the society has to evolve say with the creation of solar panels which produce solar power. Solar power is renewable, nonpolluting, free, and can be used to power cars, water heaters, fountains, buildings, and satellites (http://www.solarhome.org/infoadvantagesofsolarpower.html). This is a great example of interdependence.
ReplyDeleteThe Flynn effect is how the IQ scores of society change over time. As the society became more influenced by science, the intelligence of people increased because they had to learn and become more educated with science in order to be in the same level as the society. Shenk stated that abstract reasoning became highly improved as well as hypothetical thinking and intuitive problem solving (42). Flynn even explained that “we can use abstractions and logic and the hypothetical…we have become more ingenious in going beyond previously learned rules to solve problems on the spot” (42-43). The gist of his explanation is that we began to learn the new things that society was implementing so that we could keep up with the environment.
Resource partitioning is “the differentiation of niches that enables similar species to coexist in a community” (Campbell, 1199). This is within Shenk’s concept because as the environment changes, we also have to change in order to stay within our niche and not interfere in another species’ because that would cause havoc as we competed with another species for resources. It is better if we adjust to our environment and keep peace among the inhabitants of the Earth.
Shenk states some examples of his theory in different cultures. One is on page 49 where low-paid assemblers came up with a way to “determine exactly which of many orders to fill in precisely which sequence so as to minimize bending over and walking”. The workers environment was one of chaos and energy expenditure, but they managed to create a way as to minimize energy expenditure and keep order. Another example is on page 50 where Robert Sternberg tested children in Kisumu, Kenya on their knowledge of local herbal remedies and Western curriculum. It was found that “the better the children did on the indigenous tacit knowledge…the worse they did on the test of vocabulary used in school” (50). This shows that the children knew a lot about the remedies which would help them survive in their environment, but they knew hardly anything about Western curriculum because it wasn’t their environment so they didn’t need to learn about that to remain in their niche and survive. (Regan Frieling, regan1995@yahoo.com)