chapters one and two: the connection

sorry I had some trouble with the invite, so here's my combination of chapters one and two :]


Initially when I started reading the book I was curious on how the narration was going to proceed; I was afraid that the writing would be dry, but hopeful that the information would be intriguing. Little did I know that Shubin had craftily combined a difficult lesson with his own story to create this book, and that really helps the reader to understand Shubin's point. I especially appreciated his use of diagrams, and along with his rather simple explanation of things he really allows the reader to fully grasp the idea of evolution and the importance of Tiktaalik as we try to unfold our very complicated history.


For me, the idea that we evolved from fish at one point in time really got me. When I was a kid I always used to wonder where we, humans, came from. If someone would have told me then that we evolved from fish I would have thought they were crazy, but with the knowledge that all life started in the water with little bacteria, the idea makes complete sense. In chapter two especially Shubin helps us to trace back 380 billion years ago to understand where the complicated structure of our wrists and ankles was first seen in an organism. What I really liked about chapter two was that Shubin made me realize that even though we are humans and are the super race right now, we had very humble beginnings. First as a bacteria, then as a jelly fish-like creature all the way to Tiktaalik as the first fish with a wrist, we as a species evolved from these creatures just like every other species. The only difference that we humans have is the power of emotions and rational thinking, something more than just the survival instinct. But what Shubin is telling us here is that we have still have that deep connection to all living creatures, that same blueprint of our wrists that we can find in a great diversity of animals, that reveals to us where we came from. It's this connection, this whole aquarium or animal kingdom that we have inside of us, that makes us who we are.