Chapter 10-11

Chapter 10:

Besides my eyes which fail me almost everyday, my ears are the most keen out of all my senses. Without them I would not have done the same things I do. the three parts of the ears did not surprise me because we practically learned all of this during middle and elementary school, but the part that interested me was the connection that reptiles and mammals have in the middle portion of the ear. The jaw line of the reptile would seem at first nothing like the tiny ear bones, but the development and the shift from the lower head to the middle was remarkable. This gives us an insiders look into the evolution of human beings. From jawless fish, jawed fish, boned fish, amphibians, and reptiles to mammals, everything is connected from the bottom to the top.

What really struck me dumbfounded as well as Shubin was the notion that in 1837, several decades before Darwin published his book of evolution, Karl Reichert found out that parts of our ears are the same as the jaw bones for reptiles without mentioning evolution. I guess it was because of the way of thinking in the scientific community in that time period, but this supported Darwin's theory, I do not understand how many scientists of that age rejected The Orgin of Species.

The "ears" or neuromast organ on water animals were remarkable. These organs are all over the body of that creature and for them to sense how the water is moving and to utilize that to find prey is amazing. Yes, animals on land can do that also with thier sense of smell, but to do the same function but in another organ really distinguishes water animals to land animals, but the connection that we have with water and land is the same but with some differences just like how chapter 11 put it. Subunits.

Another part of this chapter that I enjoyed was the effects of alcohol. When I read the chapter, I was left thinking," Oh, so this is why people act like a bunch of crazies." The ethanol leaks into their gelly fluid in the inner ear making the gelly dense which makes the hair like projections sway and make them think they are moving when they see that they aren't. The chain reaction from chemicals and nerves causes the person to breakdown with nausea as well as a headeache even when they wake up the next morning. The feeling of knowing is great because I always wanted to know why people do that. On the other hand, I had no desire to learn the history of human beings because I wasn't that knowledgable in that section of science, but now that I know a lot about it, I can proudly say to the person next to me, that beef and I are related.

Chapter 11:

The Taxonomy story was funny and great, I even feel the same when having to listen to lectures about why audiobooks are ruining imagination and how they are silencing our voices. However, this situation is different from mine. Taxonomy is actually every important. This study engulfs every single study of science in the field: from single cells to mulitcelled animals. The fields of study are so large and diverse that one is in charge of categorizing the subunits of it. Speaking of subunits, according to the law of biology," Every living thing on the planet had parents,"(174). So as said in the book, if I go way back in time then, I evolved from a worm, yeast, and a fly, but also related to every living thing in the world. This makes me feel a lot less lonely, so the big purple dinosaur was right after all," I love you, you love me, we are a big family..."

That family was developed and then subdivided from many cells to a body plan like ours to skulls and backbones to hands and feet to three-boned middle ear to a bipedal gait and enormous brains. That is one big family which would all lead to one perfect(or almost perfect) creature that walks the Earth this very moment. But then again, nothing is perfect, as explained by Shubin, I realized that there must be a balance between good and evil and therefore our body has both. We have technology that makes our lives comfortable, but we also have self-destructing modes when we use advances. We have the best body systems which can also turn against us at anytime.

Besides the diseases and minor problems such as hiccups, the connection and the little bits of behavior we share that is exemplified in this book helped me realize that I and everyone is not the only creatures that live in this planet. Every species is our family but many do not repect that. So I hope that through this reading, everyone will realize that not only is our world going under because we don't realize this but so is our lives. History will turn back on us both mentally and physically. We must act now.