Last Friday I went to an anthropology lecture on evolution. The speaker made several jokes about biologists, but he brought up several valuable points. Most of them circulated around the theme of biocultural evolution, which basically means that culture is what drives the biological shift and ultimately causes evolution to occur. While I would love to go in to detail about each of his points, but one had a significant impact on me.
He said that we are not apes, nor are we neanderthals, because our ability to speak created something that changed the entirety of our livelihoods.
Because humans had the ability to speak, or rather speak more eloquently, they were able to identify specific objects with a sound. More importantly, sounds were associated with people as well. Instead of just being the person who caught the biggest rabbit the other day and nothing more, the hunter was acknowledged with a specific set of sounds, and those sounds in turn became related to his entire life. These sounds were names.
With the development of names, the development of interpersonal relationships developed. This lead to mates to stay together for life and for the children to become more dependent on their parents. Families, in the forms of clans, stayed together. A family could be identified very clearly.
The speaker suggested that the development of a strong family is what allowed humans to evolve and to survive long past the neanderthals.
As the institution of the family progressed, morals came along as well. Because sex was the main force in nature at the time, sexual morality was one of the first major differences. Having relations with a sibling would not have been a major issue, nor would it have been acknowledged. But as the family remained present, it was clear that a sexual relationship between siblings could not occur.
Additionally, non-blood relationships formed. These relationships are known as "in-laws." Certainly primitive humans did not go to the court house to choose their mates, but the parents of their potential spouse played a more significant role. Instead of the individual seeking out simple animalistic strengths to spread their genes, the family held an interest that is unseen in the animal world. They wanted the best for their kin.
The purpose of a family is the care for one another that goes beyond biology.
Because God introduced family to the world, we became human. Caring for one another and learning the proper way of life is the institutional purpose of the family, but it goes so far beyond that. When our families teach us how to live, and when they take care of us, we experience something that no animal ever could: love.
Families love another. That is what makes us human.
No comments:
Post a Comment