Chapter 7 Discussion & Essay Topics

What Can Evolutionary Theory Tell Us about Human Variation?
  1. Discuss why there is no genetic or biological basis for the category of “race.”
  1. What does it mean if one has a high cultural fitness but no genetic fitness? Provide an example.
  1. Provide some explanations for why sociobiology is often viewed as problematic within the framework of anthropology.
  1. Discuss the differences between microevolution and macroevolution and their importance for understanding humanity.
  1. Explain the relationship between acclimatization and phenotypic plasticity.
  1. Outline the four evolutionary processes discussed in this chapter and show how they can overlap to affect one another.
  1. Discuss the three different formal models in the study of human biological and cultural evolution.
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