On page 265, We see the quote from the bottom of page 82 onto the top of page 83. It tries to prove that Jim and Larry were in fact similar because they were raised in similar environments and not because they have almost genetically identical DNA. The explanation proceeds to pose the question, "Do you, reader, perhaps have a 'cultural twin' out there who you've never met?" (265). How would you respond to this question? Can it be that we all have cultural twins if no two environments or childhoods are truly identical? What implications on evolution as we know it would this revelation have?
Jane Rose 5-6A
I think that it is possible to have a “cultural twin” out there who I have never met. I believe there could be another 16 year old out there who has the same interests as me even though he or she may have grown up somewhere else and under a different environment. There are examples of “cultural twins” being found even here in Chicago. Two girls both have the same first name, both are Polish born Americans, both are violinists who want to eventually run an orchestra, and they both have ties to Chicago (Information courtesy of http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2012/03/29/agnieszka-rakhmatullaev-and-agnieszka-laskus-win-league-of-american-orchestras-management-training-fellowships/). This proves that some people can find their “cultural twin” whereas I think the majority of people never find their “cultural twin”, but that twin is out there somewhere in the world. With the world being as diverse as it is, the Campbell AP biology book even states that in 1650, 500 million people inhabited Earth and doubled in the next two centuries to 1 billion people. The steady explosion of the human population allows scientists to predict that in 2050 there will be anywhere from 7.8-10.8 billion people on the Earth (p. 1190-1191). Somewhere within the 6.6 billion people we have on the Earth now and later when there are 7.8-10.8 billion people, I believe that there will be a cultural twin out there who experienced similar conditions and in a similar environment which shaped them to be similar to me. It is not impossible because the different cultures and races allow for various environments and more than likely the environment that I am growing up under will be the same as some other teenager in the world.
ReplyDeleteI think this says that evolution has created multiple environments that can be repeated and produce many individuals that survive because evolution has found a collection of traits that help to produce surviving individuals. That being said, the individuals many not all be exactly alike, but within the entire world evolution should produce a similar individual in a similar environment. By producing a second copy of an individual, if one happens to die or become ill, the other will be there to carry genes and traits along that survived disease and are superior to others which will improve the human race. This implies that evolution is always among us even if we don’t notice it. Evolution is always trying to ensure that the best genes or traits are passed on so that the individual can survive changes to the environment and if that happens because another similar individual is out in the world, then evolution will use that technique.
(Regan Frieling, regan1995@yahoo.com)
I believe that a person can have multiple cultural twins if that makes any sense. Even more so, cultural twins can live extremely close to each other too. The way that our world has progressed, people of similar socioeconomic backgrounds tend to live in similar areas. Many people in an area are naturally culturally similar just because of their financial status. People can develop interests that are the same because of the financial situation of their family and what activities and interests they can afford. Sports like tennis, hockey, and golf can get extremely expensive, so people who do not have a strong financial backing cannot as easily take part in these activities. On the other hand, the people who cannot afford these sports may turn to some other interest that they can afford. Therefore, affordability of activities can affect the culture of a person.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Regan points out a good example of the polish girls who seem to be cultural twins. The idea that evolution set up cultural twins makes sense as well. There is a reason that people were raised a certain way through history and people continue to parent in similar ways. If these parenting styles have allowed us to survive up to today, then there must be some evolutionary benefit in parenting how we currently do. Since this way works, people tend to have similar parents styles, which would lead to cultural similarities between people. Although it can be argued that parenting styles can be very different, "parenting style is meant to describe normal variations in parenting" (http://www.athealth.com/Practitioner/ceduc/parentingstyles.html).
Overall, since people can be brought up in the same environment and lean towards the same activities, there is a high chance that one can find multiple cultural twins in the world who have had the same experience growing up in terms of parenting and living arrangements.
Richard Yeker
ReplyDeleteryeker@comcast.net