Panel on Evolution and Humans
Rick Essner, Jennifer Rehg, Luci Kohn, Steve McCommas, Christopher Pearson
Overview: Controversy surrounding evolutionary theory stems from a variety of sources,
but principal among them perhaps is its implications for how we understand ourselves as
human beings and our place in the natural world. This panel intends to survey a variety
of issues related to human evolution with the aim of demonstrating what we know about
how humans evolved and what that means for us humans at present.
Audience: One of the advantages of this panel is its interdisciplinary nature and
consequently the potential to engage a variety of people in different disciplines. While it
is difficult to project the number of persons who might attend our panel, it is not
unreasonable to suspect both faculty and student interest from the disciplines represented
(i.e. biology—including those interested in the health sciences, anthropology, and
philosophy) as well as others outside these disciplines who are intrigued (or perhaps
unsettled) by humans’ evolutionary history.
Format and Needs: We envision a 1.5 hour session with each presentation lasting 15-20
minutes and an opportunity at the end for audience questions of the panel participants.
Presenters would like to have available a projector and computer to display
Powerpoint/pictures and perhaps run computer models.
Panel Presentations:
Rick Essner: “From Amphioxus to the Meanest Human Cuss”: Evolutionary Insights
from Comparative Anatomy
The human body is comprised of multiple complex systems working together to maintain
homeostasis. As humans, we are naturally inclined to regard our bodies
anthropocentrically. However, such a myopic view seriously limits our understanding of
our own form and function. In actuality, our body’s systems and their components have
evolved over billions of years. From bones to brains, evidence of our evolutionary past is
readily apparent when we compare ourselves to other living things. We will explore a
number of key examples where an historical context provides surprising insight into
human form and function.
Jennifer Rehg: Muddles, Models and Misinterpretations: Stubborn Questions in Human
Evolution
Fundamental questions about the origins of humans and human traits continue
to go unanswered, in part because certain issues cannot be readily examined
via the paleontological or archaeological records. What factors stimulated
brain expansion in human ancestors? Who made the first tools, and for what
purpose? When and why did language evolve? To circumnavigate limitations of
fossil and artifact evidence, anthropologists study living nonhuman primates
and modern humans (often traditional foraging societies). Judicious use of
these comparative models allow us to make real contributions to
reconstructing our evolutionary past, while avoiding entertaining, but
insubstantial "just-so" stories in human evolution.
Luci Kohn: Bipedalism and Human Evolution
Studies of early human evolution require a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating
anatomy, geology, biomechanics, genetics, primatology and behavioral ecology.
Examination of early fossil remains provide evidence of evolution by natural selection for
bipedal locomotion. This evidence is found throughout the postcranial skeleton in early
hominid fossils. Habitual bipedalism, and the accompanying abilities of upright posture
and running, was accompanied by changes in diet, habitat, as well as changes in social
behavior. This discussion will use an interdisciplinary approach to examine the evidence
for the evolution of bipedal locomotion, arguably the earliest hominid trait.
Steve McCommas on Evolutionary Medicine
Chris Pearson: Evolution, Human Nature, and Morality
The notion of “human nature” and its relation to morality has long been recognized
among theologians and philosophers. More recently, the extension of evolutionary
theory to the psychological character of humans has been seen as holding great promise
for explaining a variety of human behavior, specifically our natural
inclination/disinclination to core moral ideals such as altruism and cooperation. This
presentation will (1) introduce some representative work in constructing evolutionary
models which purport to explain the emergence of human moral psychology and (2)
examine the usefulness for understanding the nature of morality through the evolutionary
lens.