It is true that we call ourselves humans because our elders call themselves humans. If our elders have called themselves gorilla, then we would have called ourselves gorilla. While our ancestors lived in caves and hunted for food, we live in modern houses and eat processed food. There has been a dramatic change in the way we think and live. Except for some similar forms, human body and mind have undergone dramatic change, over the time. Modern man has inherited a number of changes that ancient human beings have undergone over the ages.
Evolutional anthropological knowledge can be used for developing nutrition, growth and health policies for the people. Anthropological knowledge provides a new perspective on certain human behavior and biological changes. The present environment will shape the selection of human behavior and biological changes. These changes help the humans to adapt to changes in their environment. Looking at human history, one can appreciate the dramatic change that humans have undergone over the years with respective to lifestyle, food choices and the way they contact or interact with others. There is greater mobility of people between different countries and continents. This has led to interaction and merging of different cultures. The changes our species is facing in the present time, in the process of adapting to the environment, can be inherited to the subsequent generation. (Schweitzer, 1991)
Anthropological observation suggests that the process of aging in humans has changed with time. Though control of infectious diseases and better sanitation practices has helped to increase the lifespan of humans in general, there has not been any appreciable improvement in the quality of life during senescence. Aging is a multidimensional process and one of the dimensions of aging is the age-associated loss of physical and mental functioning. This is identified as a socially significant variable of aging as most of the research on the topic is to stop this dysfunction and thereby stop aging. Anthropologists have a variety of opinions on the age at which humans’ age. After the age of 30 years, adult humans have achieved their complete growth and there is no further development, except the deposition of adipose tissue. Studies also suggest that mortality rate increases non-linearly with age, suggesting that aging can be an independent risk factor for mortality. (Gurven & Kaplan, 2007)
References
Gurven, M. & Kaplan, H. (2007). Longevity Among Hunter- Gatherers: A Cross-Cultural Examination. Population and Development Review, 33(2), 321-365. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2007.00171.x
Schweitzer, M. (1991). Anthropology of aging (1st ed.). New York: Greenwood Press.
