Anthropologist: Person who studied mankind/evolution
Homo sapiens: only surviving hominid; modern species of humans
Summary:
One day when anthropologist John Hawks was discussing his findings about evolution, a common question came up. "Is the human brain really shrinking?" asked Kathleen McAuliffe. Although at first most people thought this is highly unlikely, Hawks proved that the rumors were true. Through extensive research, he found out that over the past 20,000 years the human brain has decreased by the size of a tennis ball! Because this was so shocking, another expected question came up: "if our brain keeps shrinking, will we get dumber?" Unfortunately, Hawks did not have an answer to this one. Some people think that as the size of our brain shrinks we do indeed get dumber but others believe just the opposite. They think as the size of our brain diminishes our brain is forced to work harder, only making it more agile. This question still remains unanswered so it is up to anyone to decide what they think is true.
Discussion:
Although some people believe that as the size of the brain shrinks we gets dumber, I do not agree with them. I think that even if our brain gets smaller it does not necessarily mean we are getting dumber. Over the past 20,000 years we have grown so much as a species and had so many great inventions. This would not have been possible with out lots of research and investigation which involves curiosity and effort. Even if our brains were getting smaller we have definitely advanced and gotten smarter which proves that brain size does not really matter.
Questions:
Does brain size really affect how smart people are?
If brain size keeps shrinking will people ever be born without brains?
http://topnews.in/files/brain-speaks-paralysis.jpg
Citation:
McAuliffe, Kathleen. "The Incredible Shrinking Brain." Science Reference Center.
EBSCOhost, Sept. 2010. Web. 19 Nov. 2010. <http://puffin.harker.org:2092/
ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=10&sid=95dc299f-ea3f-4e53-a78c-f3e684ff8861%40sessionmgr104&bdat
a=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=sch&AN=52887090>.
Hey Sabrina!
ReplyDeleteThis was an awesome topic to write about!
I totally agree with what you said in the discussion. We are obviously more advanced technology wise than the homo sapiens even though our brains may be smaller.
You should explain how this could effect your life in the future.
Great choice on your article and you had a great summary!
Interesting blog post!
ReplyDeleteBoth the summary and the discussion are easy to understand and I can tell you put thought into the discussion. But I don't think the image is showing up.
Another question I have:
Have scientists found out why the brain is shrinking?
Overall, great job! :)