The Runaway Brain by Christopher Willis :: Willis Runaway Brain Essays

The Runaway Brain by Christopher Willis Christopher Wills has written a fascinating chronicle of human evolution in a style that will keep the reader glued to the book to find out what happened next. The Runaway Brain is organized into four sections. First Wills addresses The Dilemmas, the many problems that students of evolution encounter mainly from public perception of the subject and from the many prejudices of those involved with the work. The question of where our species first appeared is a particularly contentious one, although it is now widely accepted that the species originated out of Africa. There are, regardless, those who still disagree and especially at first, many dismissed an African origin out of hand. Wills' second main issue is that of the transition to actual "humanity" and if it occurred once or twice. As he discusses in the chapter entitled "An Obsession with Race", those who deride those of African descent often use the multiple origin theory as one that justifies racism. Wills decries this abu se of the science and firmly argues against those that would use evolution to further racist propaganda. He also takes issue with those who insist on believing that all of humanity came from one Eve and one Adam, instead putting forth the theory of the "mitochondrial Eve"; that we all descend from the mitochondrial DNA, but that we do not in fact descent from two individuals. Wills' own slant on the issue is that humans are involved in a feedback loop which he calls the "runaway brain". Wills claims that humans are unique in that they have culture which has developed. The culture injects an otherwise unknown into the evolutionary process. Humans, Wills says, had advanced brains which allowed them to create a complex culture. The culture challenged their brains and led to more complex brains as the species involved. This process continued to repeat and is still repeating today. This is what Wills claims is driving us towards our ultimate best. The second section of the book is titled The Bones and tells the story of the archeological remains of the ancestors of humanity. Wills creates a fascinating tale as he describes the lives, feelings and desires of the people involved in finding these bones. Not only does he describe the find and its significance to the understanding of evolution, he also tells the story of the finder making the section more of a human drama than a dry telling of facts. The Runaway Brain by Christopher Willis :: Willis Runaway Brain Essays The Runaway Brain by Christopher Willis Christopher Wills has written a fascinating chronicle of human evolution in a style that will keep the reader glued to the book to find out what happened next. The Runaway Brain is organized into four sections. First Wills addresses The Dilemmas, the many problems that students of evolution encounter mainly from public perception of the subject and from the many prejudices of those involved with the work. The question of where our species first appeared is a particularly contentious one, although it is now widely accepted that the species originated out of Africa. There are, regardless, those who still disagree and especially at first, many dismissed an African origin out of hand. Wills' second main issue is that of the transition to actual "humanity" and if it occurred once or twice. As he discusses in the chapter entitled "An Obsession with Race", those who deride those of African descent often use the multiple origin theory as one that justifies racism. Wills decries this abu se of the science and firmly argues against those that would use evolution to further racist propaganda. He also takes issue with those who insist on believing that all of humanity came from one Eve and one Adam, instead putting forth the theory of the "mitochondrial Eve"; that we all descend from the mitochondrial DNA, but that we do not in fact descent from two individuals. Wills' own slant on the issue is that humans are involved in a feedback loop which he calls the "runaway brain". Wills claims that humans are unique in that they have culture which has developed. The culture injects an otherwise unknown into the evolutionary process. Humans, Wills says, had advanced brains which allowed them to create a complex culture. The culture challenged their brains and led to more complex brains as the species involved. This process continued to repeat and is still repeating today. This is what Wills claims is driving us towards our ultimate best. The second section of the book is titled The Bones and tells the story of the archeological remains of the ancestors of humanity. Wills creates a fascinating tale as he describes the lives, feelings and desires of the people involved in finding these bones. Not only does he describe the find and its significance to the understanding of evolution, he also tells the story of the finder making the section more of a human drama than a dry telling of facts.