Human variability
From Wikinfo
See also Human variability by Wikipedia
Humans vary naturally due to genetic inheritance over a wide range. Additional variability is introduced as people survive various injuries or contact disease. In addition to division into two sexes, humans age going through states in life. people are socialized and educated and undergo experiences with further differentiate them. Variability which limits activities in some way is generally regarded as disability but that label may be rejected by those such as the deaf which it may be applied to.
There are several misconceptions which have historically mislead people about human variability: In Europe where extensive intermixing over centuries, even millenia, has produced a more or less homogeneous population, minor differences in language and culture have misled certain people (e.g. the Nazis) into the notion that significant differences exist as between different national populations. With respect to the peoples of Africa where modern man originated about 80,000 years ago the surface characteristic of skin color has masked the extensive variabilty which has built up over the tens of millenia with respect to numerous other characteristics.
Many genetic variations which are considered undesirable are governed by recessive genes thus arising from matings of people who do not display the characteristic. In modern times many of these variations have been indentified and in some cases can be detected before conception or a child or while the child is still in vitro raising the possibility of abortion in the case of birth defects.
Common Human Variations
- Age: baby, child, adult, middle-age, old-age
- Amputation
- Athleticism
- Baldness
- Blindness
- Body type
- cultural differences
- Differences due to enviornmental influences, See Nature versus nurture
- Deafness
- Developmental disability
- Emotional stabilty
- Genetic defects
- Intelligence
- Musical ability
- Sex, (male, female and other genetic possibilities
- Short stature, Dwarfism, see also Little people and pygmy
- Skin color
See racism
Humans may use necessary, perhaps to replace or augment some damaged part, or desirable external devices to augment their capacity, examples are eyeglasses, armor, a cane. See Edward Tenner, Our Own Devices: The Past and Future of Body Technology, Random House, June, 2003, hardcover, 314 pages, ISBN 0375407227
