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INTRODUCTION
Our own evolution is daunting-not because it is different or intrinsically more
complicated than what we have seen already, but because it is us. The subject of
human evolution has always been, and remains, contentious. Darwin faced the
bitterness of public belligerence because he eventually and directly included
humans in his discussion of descent with modification. In The Origin of Species
(1859), he promised that light would be thrown on the origin of man and his
history. In 1871 he delivered, with the publication of The Descent of Man and
Selection in Relation to Sex.
Certainly, there is the hard evidence serving the study of human evolutionthe bones, teeth, and tools-the physical evidence that fossilizes. But often what
intrigues us most about our evolution is the soft stuff-language, culture, and
religion-the parts that make us human, our human nature, which does not fossilize
for direct inspection. Guesses and claims about human nature often are
unreferenced to hard, physical evidence. To some, humans are an inevitability, the
final pinnacle of life; to others, nature preaches moral messages-subjugation of the
unfit. Some people believe that culture nurtures our adult behaviors; others
believe that genes dictate our basic lusts. Wild speculation occasionally rules,
especially in the popular culture delivered in magazines at grocery store checkout
lanes. Vigilance is required. Claims about evolution and human nature vary in
credibility. Even careful scientists enjoy an occasional freewheeling speculation, and
these fanciful conjectures get strewn and scattered about as established fact.
When recognized as whimsical flights of fancy, such speculations can loosen up old,
smug dogma and encourage new, fresh ideas. But ideas come and go, especially
within the emotion-charged arena of human evolution. A skeptical and critical eye
will serve us well. If we keep our wits about us, we will not be seduced by flawed but
fashionable ideas eloquently paraded before us; instead we will enjoy the wonderful
evolutionary insights into our own human character.
NEW ANCESTORS
Monthly, it seems, an anthropologist finds a new human fossil that provokes
instant optimism, a claim for central location in hominid history, and controversy. In
the relatively brief time during which I wrote, reviewed, and revised this chapter,
new and earlier hominid fossils from Africa were reported and a miniature hominid
from the Indonesian island of Flores was discovered that, as an adult, stood only
about a meter high. Almost as quickly, interpretation of these fossils has been
adamantly challenged. Certainly, some hyped new hominid fossils will eventually
earn a covered place in hominid history. Until then, the fossils will be controversial.
Such controversy is not a challenge to Darwin, but a bid for preeminence among
fossils finds. Anthropologists engaged in such a debate do not challenge the fact or
the mechanism of evolution.
PITFALLS
We should not be alarmed when we come upon the complexity of the human
species. We have already seen complexity, and we have seen how it evolves-in
manageable steps (e.g., mimicry). But other misunderstandings stand in our path.
One is the entrenched idea of our own inevitability.
Human Inevitability
The view persists that humans are evolutionary inevitability. Before me as I write is
a copy of a poster, not too old, from a well-known natural history museum in the
United States. It depicts a pyramid of species stacked one on the back of preceding,
leading from squashy sponges to fishes and up a ladder of life to Man at the top.
The intended point is that humans are the pinnacle of evolution-the top of the heap.
Yet such a view is certainly mistaken. The millions of other species with which today
we share this world are themselves equal survivors. Like ourselves, the species that
share this world are simply the most recent productions of a long evolutionary
history.
TERJEMAHAN
EVOLUSI MANUSIA: Awal Tahun
PENDAHULUAN
Evolusi kita sendiri menakutkan-tidak karena berbeda atau intrinsik lebih
rumit dari apa yang telah kita lihat sudah, tapi karena kita. Subjek evolusi manusia
selalu, dan tetap, diperdebatkan. Darwin menghadapi kepahitan agresif publik
karena ia akhirnya dan langsung dimasukkan manusia dalam pembahasannya
keturunan dengan modifikasi. Dalam The Origin of Species (1859), ia berjanji bahwa
"cahaya akan dilemparkan tentang asal-usul manusia dan sejarahnya." Pada tahun
1871 ia menyampaikan, dengan terbitnya The Descent of Man dan Seleksi dalam
Kaitannya dengan seks.
Tentu saja, ada "keras" bukti yang melayani studi evolusi-manusia tulang,
gigi, dan alat-bukti fisik yang memfosil. Namun seringkali apa yang intrik kita paling
tentang evolusi kami adalah "lunak" barang-bahasa, budaya, dan agama-bagian
yang membuat kita manusia, sifat manusia kita, yang tidak memfosil untuk
pemeriksaan langsung. Tebakan dan klaim tentang sifat manusia sering Rintisan
untuk, bukti fisik keras. Untuk beberapa, manusia adalah suatu keniscayaan,
puncak terakhir dari kehidupan; kepada orang lain, alam mengajarkan pesanpenaklukan moral "tidak layak". Beberapa orang percaya bahwa budaya
memelihara perilaku dewasa; yang lain percaya bahwa gen menentukan nafsu
dasar kita. Spekulasi liar sesekali aturan, terutama dalam budaya populer