diversity

Brain Injury and Mental Health   Mental Health and the Brain Working Group March 30th, 2009

Image from the Feingold Gallery

 

In reading Darwin's On the Origin of Species and discussing the book in class, I have found myself thinking a lot about the evolutionary significance of homosexuality.  I have been struggling not with the existence of homosexuality but instead with its' long history and continuation within our species, for if evolutionary theory is to be accepted, homosexuality, which is not a selective reproductive trait, should not continue to appear in the species.  According to Darwin's theory of evolution, the appearance of homosexuality is not surprising because the basic principle of the theory is based on the randomness of mutation within a species.  Given this, the existence of homosexuality is not surprising at all but, as mentioned before, the fact that it has continued within the population

If Darwinian evolution is about the biological changes that species and other organisms undergo to be able to physically and physiologically adapt to their environment, then one could say that communities of people have also, collectively and as separate groups, evolved socially over time. Indeed, since Darwin came out with his theory on the gradual evolution of the species 150 years ago, huge social changes have been made by man as a result of the phenomenal discoveries and inventions he made, particularly during the last century: the automobile, the airplane, the telephone, the computer, electricity, and so forth.

ADHD is a disorder that has “a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that is more frequently displayed and more severe than is typically observed in individuals at a comparable level of development”(1). Symptoms are usually seen before the age of 7, and the patient has to show disruption of functioning in 2 environments (eg. Home and school), and have disruption in educational, social or occupational settings. As children are the ones that are usually diagnosed, they can appear fidgety, distracted, hyper and confused. One odd thing about the appearance of the disorder is that at one point or another, children usually look and feel this way. This has led to a hypothesis of over-diagnosing this disorder.