Darwin explains the idea of there being multiple varieties of species and how each variety weeded out each other variety. For example like Harari’s point in the war between the sapiens and the neanderthals and how the sapiens being smarter gave them the advantage. Another characteristic Darwin points out is the geological boundaries and that although they can be identical, the life forms will not be the same because they have been separated from each other and now have a different way of living. Darwin on page 491 also explains how it is possible for species to change under the climate and having to be able to adapt to stuff like colder weather, dry climates, small precipitation, etc. Some of those species do better in different climate than others. Sometimes similar species are able to live in different places. Take the Montana antelope with the Africa antelope. They are in two different climates, but are able to exist due to the adaptions they have made overtime through natural selection and evolution.
In this reading, Darwin discusses many different theories of how evolution can be explained through natural selection. The one that stands out to me the most is when he points out that the variety of species on page 492 and since the beginning of life, there has been a variety of species that have been weeded out the “lesser” species. The best example I can give is the parallelism with Sapiens and Neanderthals. Neanderthals had the edge on sapiens physically because they were able to contain more muscle mass, so they were able to win in a hand to hand combat. But eventually the sapiens won because they had more brain power and were able to come up with ways to make all sapiens come together to survive. So naturally the sapiens won.
Nice blog, I like how you made the correlation to Harari referring to the Sapiens and how they conquered the other more humanlike species, relating it to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. The homo sapiens were able to adapt and evolve more complex cognitive ability thus wiping out the other human-like species. That is one aspect of evolution, but you also have to take into consideration individual adaptations within one species that pass down from generation to generation until all animals within that species have the same traits. Its the same concept as the homo sapiens wiping out the Neanderthals, its just not so high speed so to speak, but rather very slow going.
I think your example between humans and neanderthals is a pretty good one, while it may seem somewhat different from other species, in the end the species least fit to survive the environment died off, while the other flourished. It shows that the important thing is not strength, but the ability to survive and reproduce. For all creatures, any trait that benefits survival and reproduction increases the chances of that that creature will indeed, survive. With that in mind, it only makes sense that over a very long span of time, creatures with more advantages are more likely to survive than those with less.
Hi Cody,
I think you have a very strong understanding of the Darwin reading, and I also enjoyed how you were able to continually link Darwin’s work with Harari’s. This link was really shown in your ability to illustrate how natural selection is shown in the example of Sapiens overtaking Neandertals overtime. With this being said, however, I had a question for you antelope example. What are the specific examples of adaptations they have made to be able to survive in such different climates? Also, are these adaptations a result of the antelopes living in such different places/climates, or are they a result of a genetic difference compared to other antelopes within the species? Other than this, I think you have a very strong and well analyzed post.