2.
The short term adaption to this problem was the bodies natural response when body temperature drops, shivering. The shivering is really the body heating up the body by using it's muscles in order to fight off the cold weather.
The facilitative adaptation to this problem was vasoconstriction. Vasoconstriction is "the narrowing of blood vessels in the human body." When blood vessels constrict, the flow of blood is obstructed and slowed, this traps the heat inside our bodies longer than usual. I do not believe this can be used as a long term factor to survive in the cold but it does temporarily protect humans from losing radiating their body heat too quickly.
The developmental adaptation to the extremely cold weather was to change their diet. Typically, humans that lived in colder parts of the world were noted to consume fatter foods which resulted in a endomorphic body shape, more round and shorter.
The cultural adaption to the dramatically cold weather was the use of thicker clothing. In addition, creating artificial heat sources like starting a fire or using a heating device are used to fight the low temperatures. Drinking alcohol is also a common practice to raise body heat.
4. The word "race" is misused and misunderstood throughout the world.
Hello David Jang,
ReplyDeletewonderful work and pictures. I also choose the environmental stress of cold. However I like how you began your work by explaining where humans migrated from and how they experienced shocking changes to what they are used to. Also, that is true how you said that the word and meaning of "race" is misused. People sometimes say ethnicity or even the country someone is from as race. which is wrong.
Jennifer Hernandez
So what are the problems associated with cold stress? You identify the issue of Vitamin D, but this is related to sunlight and can happen in hot or cold climates. How can cold itself disrupt homeostasis?
ReplyDeleteGood discussion on the short term and facultative traits.
With regard to developmental, you can certainly alter your diet during your lifetime to change your body shape, but keep in mind that developmental traits are genetic traits passed on from generation to generation. These are traits you are born with and will keep for your lifetime. So the developmental trait here that helps with cold adaptation is the rounder body shape that you mention. This is in agreement with Bergmann and Allen's rules for body and appendage shape respectively.
For the most part, good job on your cultural traits. FYI, drinking alcohol is NOT adaptive to cold weather. It is just the opposite. Alcohol actually reduces your body temperature slightly (which gives the illusion of warmth as the difference between internal and external temperatures lessens) and it reduces your mental faculties, making it harder to recognize that you may be in danger and need to solve the problem of the cold.
"However, I would use the word [race] strictly to acknowledge the environmental stresses that each population hails from."
Why? How does this help us to understand human variation? Remember that the environment actually causes the change in our adaptations. There is a causal relationship and we can use this to understand patterns of variation. Does that causal relationship exist between race and our adaptations? What does race cause? Or is it just a subjected system of classification, varying across cultures and subject to bias?
Interesting how you suggest that 'race' is misused and misunderstood. I get the play on words with the image, but what did you mean by this specifically with regard to this assignment? Does that mean the true meaning of race is useful in some way? Is there a good way to use race?
Hello Professor, I realize I did a rather poor job on the first point because rather than sourcing from the cold. Lack of vitamin D is more related to sunlight. I believe the cold weather can lead to muscle and bone stiffness as well as a higher chance of being sick. HealthCentral.com explains that the cold weather can lead to higher risk of viral infection not because the body's immune system is slower, but because the virus's are transmitted differently. In addition, I believe that cold weather is harmful to the lungs and can cause lung and throat problems, especially when humid.
DeleteThank you for the information regarding alcohol and the effect it has on humans. I was lead to believe that it raised the body temperature.
I believe that race is determined strictly depending on the environmental challenges each group of hominin faces as they migrated. I think race should be used to classify groups who responded the same way to stresses. For example, I believe that the use of the word is diminished to an extent because of how we have already adapted over the years.
David,
DeleteThank you for the reply.
Cold can lead to much bigger problems in terms of homeostasis. The biggest danger is the drop in body temperature, or 'hypothermia', which lead to organ shut down and eventually death. This is the key disruption to homeostasis since the body needs to work around the optimal temperature of 98.6 degrees. Drop below that and the body doesn't work like it should.
Apparently, cold has little to do with getting sick. We tend to get sick more often in cold weather because people are more likely to be indoors, in enclosed areas together, where germs spread more easily.
" I think race should be used to classify groups who responded the same way to stresses."
Again, why? Is this really necessary? Does this tell us anything new or useful that the adaptive approach doesn't already tell us? I want to make sure you understand that 'race' is a social construct, not a biological one, and it really doesn't have any value at all when studying biological variation in humans. There doesn't have to be a use for it at all.
I would agree that Vitamin D deficiency is mostly pertaining more to the sun's exposure than the weather itself. The interesting thing that I found is that you said alcohol raises body temperature. Good pictures too.
ReplyDeleteBut alcohol DOESN'T raise body temperature. It actually lowers it (which gives the illusion of warmth) and it is not adaptive. It is maladaptive, not just because it lowers body temp but because it lowers your brain's ability to respond to a life-threatening situation (extreme cold) by getting out of danger.
DeleteHey there,
ReplyDeleteFirst off I would like to say that I love the photo choices you chose for this assignment. Looking at your assignment made me realize that I misunderstood question 2. Your post made me understand what I should have wrote. I thought your representation of article heat was awesome. Honestly I was using the word "race" wrong until I did this assignment. Great delivery!
artificial* =)
ReplyDeleteWow! Didn't know changing your diet can change our adaptation to cold weather. That's interesting! So is the photo of the man with the baby on his stomach. I am so fascinated with the human body and the way we are able to adapt to different climates. We (humans) are very unique. I enjoyed reading your post to gain a better understanding. Using heating devices and thicker clothing will definitely aid in protecting against the cold weather.
ReplyDelete