Biocultural Evolution Essay: Exploring the Meaning of Human Existence

This essay delves into the concept of biocultural evolution to define what it means to be human. The student's essay examines the interplay of biological and cultural changes that have shaped the human species, drawing on examples from the course materials. It references the works of Michael Hollman, Tony Edmond, and scientific findings regarding human evolution, emphasizing key characteristics like bipedalism, brain development, language, and tool use. The essay defines biocultural evolution, highlighting how human traits are a product of both biological adaptation and cultural development, concluding that human nature is determined by both cultural and biological factors, which determine our physical features and conscience of the things happening around us. The student uses cited examples from the course textbook to support the arguments and explores abilities found in non-humans such as tool use to provide a comprehensive understanding of what it means to be human.

Biocultural Evolution Essay: 1
Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course
Date
“What does it mean to be human?”
To be human contains a lot to hold on in terms of nature, existence, cultural, and
biological changes and adaptations. Michael Hollman argues that to be human provides us with
the ability to create and cherish the arts, different species, our environment, and each other. He
continues by saying that we should never stop viewing the world with that regard, but we should
always do so. The self-awareness to these concepts should be the motive in every human
(Blizard, p.23). Concerning biocultural evolution, human beings are creatures that are formed out
of the combination of biological and cultural changes. Biological evolution is, thus, the changes
that the human species go through both biologically and culturally. The essay seeks to expound
on what it means to be social concerning the biocultural evolution.
Tony Edmond, in his words, said that to be human means to be aware of the existence of
life before us and after we are gone (dead) (Evans, p. 78). The sole purpose of every life is to
find its meaning to create a meaningful world. Human evolution is a very prolonged process that
explains the origin of people from apelike creatures. Science has proven that the behavioral and

Biocultural Evolution Essay: 2
physical human characteristics originated from apelike ancestors. These traits then evolved over
a period approximated to be six million years ago (Campbell, p. 45). Some of the human
characteristics are the ability to walk on two legs, large and complex brain, ability to speak, and
the ability to make and develop sophisticated tools. Homo sapiens, the current man, has related
traits to another primate species known as apes (gorilla and chimpanzee). Creatures that were
firstly spotted beyond six years ago in Africa.
In the biological perspective, evolution occurs as a result of changes in the genetic
materials inherited from the parent organisms in the population. Genes refer to a chemical code
provided by a segment of DNA to yield proteins that can mutate with time. The behavior of an
organism is majorly influenced by genetic expressions (Daly, p. 63). As a result, the adaptation
features of human to fit in a given ecosystem will require that some overused body parts will
grow faster and more significant than other parts. This will enable the organisms to reproduce the
viable offspring and be able to survive against a competitive population.
In conclusion, human traits the distinctive features between humans and other creatures.
Humans do not change because of evolution but instead, change the acquired means of growth
and development in a population. The specific traits from the parent are passed on to the
offspring, which then turns to be shared in society. In other words, our human nature is
determined culturally and biologically based on the facts mentioned above. In this sense, to be
human implies that we have different physical features and the right conscience of the things
happening around. The ability to procreate, think critically, relate, and adapt well with the
environment makes us the dominant life forms on earth.

Biocultural Evolution Essay: 3
Works Cited
Blizard, Deborah. "The Next Evolution: The Constitutive Human-Doll Relationship as
Companion Species." International Conference on Love and Sex with Robots. Springer, Cham,
2017.
Campbell, Bernard. Human evolution: an introduction to man's adaptations. Routledge,
2017.
Daly, Martin, and Margo Wilson. Homicide: Foundations of human behavior. Routledge,
2017.
Evans, Dylan, and Oscar Zarate. Introducing Evolutionary Psychology: A Graphic Guide.
Icon Books Ltd, 2015.