chimps and humans

From the myriad of articles that we have read on this very topic, it seems the jury is not totally out on this subject. I would guess with my little knowledge on evolution, that we were interbreeding until one generation of people and chimp decided to go their separate ways and no longer interbreed. We were probably much hairier before this separation happened.

dopamine

There are many ways to raise our dopamine levels, the problem is sometimes there's not enough to start out with. In the case of the average joe... We can exercise, we can watch a comedy, we can avoid things that will lower levels, like many stimulants, coffee, alcohol ,sugar... Do things that bring you joy, go on a hike, with friends, your kids, swing on a swing high, try and touch the sky. these are just a few of the ways that I raise my dopamine levels.

Is there a drug around for just about everyhting?

The quick answer is yes. I think we have grown too dependent on a pill to cure just about every ailment we have. I have been quick to judge that people are not able to deal with their problems because there are drugs so readily available. But talking to a friend recently who has been battling with depression for her whole life and has resisted pharmaceutical drugs most of her life. Instead she try to self medicate. I think in her situation she has tried everything else and is still not feeling better, that sometimes drugs are the answer, and they don't need to have a negative stigma. I just would like the medical field to advise their clients to try other things first.

human genetic evolution.

I found this sight to be very informative, I can't say that these are things I think of on my own but none the less very informative. This constant debate over whether humans have existed eight or ten million years, seems arbitrary to me however to someone who has dedicated themselves to this research it means everything. It reminds me of a time when I was a kid and we went to pick up a friend of my dads. this friend happened to and still does research on evolution, particularly our connection to chimps. This one time that we went to pick him up he was returning from Africa with some specimens(the dead kind). My brother and I unknowing got into a van with a dead gorilla and a chimpanzee(woowee the smell) and of course the disgust of seeing such a large animal dead. so much information to digest.....

Prokaryotes, eurkaryotes,and viruses

I enjoyed this quiz and will enjoy the pictures of the different parts of a cell. I took the quiz and got question number three about the golgi apparatus wrong and I got the question about the cell wall in animals wrong.

chimps and humans share the same DNA?

I find it funny that some folks still do not believe this. Of course if we have evolved from chimps we still have almost all the same DNA. If anything I hope that it will humble us and help us treat all living things with the same respect we reserve only for humans. Ultimately we are all made of organic matter all with different ways of communicating. My cousin the chimp, my ancestor that I still have not had the pleasure of meeting.

How does darwinism matter to me?

It matters to me because it helps me (and others) see the connection to all living things. It also matters to me because it can show over time that things are indeed evolving and adapting. It may even be as important as to show how things may continue to evolve as time continues. It helps us to understand why certain traits are dominant or recessive(which can also foretell some things of the next generation).

what I think of evo devo.

I am a strong believer in evolution, and I find much of the finding quite fascinating. Although I am not sure how interested to know about whether we(as a human)were around for 8 million or ten million years I am. I also don't know how interested I am to know whether we are decendents of the Neanderthal . I do like that there's more and more research showing how we are negatively effecting animals. I am not entirely sure what approach we should take to help stop this , but at the very least being informed will help.I found the article on the butterfly, and how it overcame the odds of only one male to 99 females, to be very inspiring. Some of the articles that talk about experiments on thesse living creaature, I find disturbing. Even if tone of the articles spoke of a comittee that was formed to do humane expiriments, why do we even need to do it at all? I think if people had to volunteer their pets for the expiriment things would start to change pretty quickly!!!

Darwinism and evolution

I went to these sights and learned some new terminology.mutation,migration, these sights were very informative and as I continue to read them I will be fascinated. I was reading how some genetics can change in one generation, like resistance to pesticides, that is much faster than I thought possible. That right there is a perfect example of suvival of the fittest.

The Blue brain project

As I am fascinated by the push to recreate the human brain, I am still struck by the feeling that it leaves out so much of who we really are. It is truly amazing that they can recreate the NCC behavior of a rat. I can respect the possible advances this may bring modern medicine, but it does not replicate the psychological make up of the brain, just impulses. As an altenative health practioner, that aims to get more people to look at the mind body spirit connection to health.. this stears very far from that. it looks at the body as many microcosms that make up the universe we call the body without looking at the whole all at once. I truly am trying to come to a place of western and eastern medicine coming ogether to create complimentery medicine, but I am not there yet. I hope that we lear to spend money on research that is helping us right now not possibly in the next 100 years.