UC Berkeley neurobiologist Terrence Deacon gives a rousing grand finale to his spring 2009 course Introduction to Biological Anthropology (website, feed).
The final three lectures explore the ways that our bodies and minds have been shaped by evolution, sometimes in ways that leave us poorly prepared for the artificial environments in which we now live.
He’s not talking here about carpal tunnel syndrome from too much computer use. Deacon contrasts the evolutionary environment of our hunter-gatherer ancestors with the artificial environments we have created since the invention of agriculture about 5000 years ago.
Sometimes our biology adapts. For example, unlike most mammals, many humans can produce the enzyme lactase and thus digest milk well past childhood. This genetic adaptation allows livestock herders to get much of their nutrition from milk throughout their lives.
But often our biology is out of sync with our new environments. For example, we evolved to crave fat, sugar and salt because these were rare and valuable nutrients. Now we have a hard time controlling ourselves and avoiding those hamburgers, potato chips and chocolate chip cookies.
All in all, a great end to a great course.
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