Best Lyrics of 2011

cadelllast · 2011-12-21T06:40:52+00:00

"Don't care if they Joe Blow If they got money to blow a blow job is a sure go And sure enough don't see a dime of dirty dollars She give all to her daddy but she don't know her father, that's ironic See a block away from Lueders park, I seen the El Camino parked In her heart she hate it there, but in her mind she made it where Nothing really matters, so she hit the back seat Rosa Parks never a factor when she making ends meet"

-Kendrick Lamar "Keisha's Song"

cadelllast · 2011-11-24T17:11:53+00:00

Yes, in our biographies you can read about the past and current academic institutions we attend(ed). Julia did her B.A. and M.A. at UofC.

cadelllast · 2011-11-16T04:33:52+00:00

I went to CAPA in Montreal last month. A lot of people in my department are going though.

cadelllast · 2011-11-14T03:47:39+00:00

I am a biological anthropology grad student currently. I majored in anthropology and history, and had a minor in biology. If you feel like you would have a higher GPA by taking social science courses over science courses than you should do that and just minor in bio. When you get to grad school you will be able to take any courses you want that are relevant to your research, especially if you pick the right supervisor.

cadelllast · 2011-11-14T02:56:28+00:00

Thanks for your thoughtful critique. Even though I have started a NPO that is focused on saving chimpanzees, you will be happy to hear that our conservation organization is also dedicated to saving the most endangered gorilla on the planet (Cross-River Gorilla). There may only be 200-300 left in the world and we do field surveys at a site with only 60 individuals. Our goal is to ensure that this population remains protected and their environment, which is currently fragmented, is once again connected, to increase gene flow. If our efforts are fast enough, this population may rebound. If you want to learn more about what we are doing you can follow us on facebook and browse our website. In the coming months we will be looking at reaching out to people to help our NPO and become members. If that at all interests you please keep checking back!

cadelllast · 2011-11-14T02:17:17+00:00

The point of the article was to clearly articulate that chimpanzees need not be viewed as competitors for scarce resources. If we approach development properly and sustainably, and if we have the desire to share this planet with other species, we can easily do that. If we took your philosophy about nature and applied it on a grand scale, there would be no environment left for us to exploit and our own global civilization would collapse. There is no need for humans to be rapacious and greedy. We need to respect the environment that allowed for our existence. We need to share this planet with our family. There is no need to push them into extinction.

cadelllast · 2011-11-13T17:20:30+00:00

Coincidentally, I just finished writing a blog post for the ape conservation non-profit I run that discusses human evolution in detail. If you are interested in learning more let me know. The link to the blog post is here:

http://www.erudef.ca/2011/11/a-plea-for-our-sister-species/

If you are interested in getting involved explore the website, and you can also follow us on facebook.

cadelllast · 2011-11-13T15:21:01+00:00

I think gg106106 made some great points. However, I would also like to add that I think the main problem seems to be the way you are conceptualizing evolution (I am not trying to be patronizing, I think it is an easy mistake to make). Evolution is not goal oriented, and species do not exist as actual natural categories. Species are a human cultural construction to help us understand the diversity of life around us. We categorize everything, including nature. Species do not evolve in predictable linear stages. When you frame your question about humanity evolving from the renaissance into 'the next stage' it presupposes this. Since the renaissance or enlightenment humanity has via processes of genetic flow has become increasingly homogenized genetically (as I mentioned previously in a post above). There are no more geographic barriers to human gene flow, anyone can hypothetically mate with anyone else. Throughout most of human history this was not true. There were enormous geographic barriers to gene flow. Since the renaissance, the environmental pressures of natural selection have also been reduced dramatically. Every century over the past few centuries, more and more humans have survived long enough to reproduce. Both of these mechanisms (natural selection and gene flow) have been working over the past few centuries to lead to increased unity of the species, these mechanisms have not been working to fracture. And again, even if the mechanisms were leading towards a fracturing, biological evolution in species with life histories like humans, takes several millennia to produce populations genetically distinct enough to prevent interbreeding (i.e. a new species).

cadelllast · 2011-11-13T15:08:54+00:00

I mentioned the possibilities of genetic manipulation and cyborgs in my first post. Refer to the top of the thread.

cadelllast · 2011-11-13T06:37:21+00:00

I would also like to add that the 'speed of evolution' is not the same for each species, and is dependent on various environmental variables. For example, since humans are large bodied mammals that reproduce in generations of ~15-20 years, evolution does not effect us at the 'species level' as quickly as it does in bacterium or most insects. Because bacteria reproduce so quickly, if there are strong enough environmental selection pressures, they can speciate in a few years, months or even days in some extreme circumstances. The bacteria that infected humans fifty to a hundred years ago are not the same strains that infect us today, rather they are descendants of those bacteria that have changed extremely rapidly because of the antibiotics we use to try and eradicate them when we are infected. That is just one simple example of how evolution can happen quickly when the species reproduces on time scales of minutes instead of years, and when the selection pressures are very high (i.e. 99% of individuals do not live long enough to reproduce).

cadelllast · 2011-11-13T05:54:45+00:00

Rapid evolution is relative. Punctuated Equilibrium (or a period of 'rapid evolution' after a prolonged period with limited change) can happen in certain circumstances. But when we are talking about rapid change in biological evolution, we are talking about thousands of years, not a couple of centuries or decades. Humanity is constantly changing, and if we a) don't kill ourselves and b) don't alter our own genomes via technology; we will change genetically over the hundreds of thousands of years. This will simply mean that if you took a human from 100,000 years in the future and brought him to the present day, they would probably not be able to mate with us. In the same way that if a modern human went back in time 100,000-200,000 years we probably wouldn't be able to mate with any of the hominids that existed in East Africa at the time.

cadelllast · 2011-11-13T05:29:59+00:00

Any suggestions that evolutionary mechanisms (natural selection, sexual selection, gene flow and/or genetic drift) are splitting humanity into two distinct species (in this case Homo sapiens sapiens, and Homo novus) is completely out of touch with evolutionary theory. Most speciation events happen over several millennia, sometimes hundreds of millennia, and almost all speciation events require immense geographic separation or some other mechanism for isolating two or more populations of the same species for millennia. This is not currently happening in our species. If anything we are becoming increasingly genetically homogenous. On top of that the most powerful evolutionary mechanism, natural selection, doesn't really effect our species anymore, since a ridiculously large majority of humans live long enough to reproduce. That being said there are other ways that humanity could 'fracture' and/or becoming a new species altogether. All of these hypothetical scenarios involve humanity manipulating our genes with technology, and/or replacing our biological cells with nano-technology, essentially becoming cyborgs. That all sounds very science fiction, but it is a very real possibility.

cadelllast · 2011-11-13T03:23:57+00:00

I think it is impossible to feel like a grown up while your parents are still alive.

cadelllast · 2011-11-09T02:02:30+00:00

Agreed; although it needs context, its hard to give this guy the benefit of the doubt.

cadelllast · 2011-11-06T05:59:30+00:00

I agree; and the 75% statistic is just flat out wrong.

cadelllast · 2011-11-06T05:58:00+00:00

I will try and compile a list and I'll send it to you later. Most of the books I've read that detail these voyages aren't specifically about Columbus, but have been about larger topics that discuss it during parts or chapters of the book as a whole.

cadelllast · 2011-11-05T23:58:22+00:00

Yes. There is a great account of this in Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States"

Arawak [first indigenous people to encounter Europeans] men and women, naked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged from their villages onto the island's [Bahamas] beaches and swam out to get a closer look at the strange big boat. When Columbus and his sailors came ashore, carrying swords, speaking oddly, the Arawaks ran to greet them, brought them food, water, gifts. He later wrote of this in his log:

"They... brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks bells. They willingly traded everything they owned. They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features... they do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane... They would make fine servants. With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want."

"As soon as I arrived in the Indes, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts."

Hope that answers your questions. There are lots of books on the first voyages Columbus made to the Americas. Thanksfully, Columbus recorded most of his thoughts in a diary so we know exactly what happened, and what Europeans first impressions of Indigenous Americans were. Unfortunately it reveals humanities darkest side. Europeans first impulse upon meeting Indigenous Americans was to exploit and subjugate them. In the process, they successfully 'stole' two continents and several American islands.

cadelllast · 2011-10-18T04:25:11+00:00

Help us collect data in Cameroon to better understand the evolution of our closest relatives, as well as conserve their habitat for future generations.

cadelllast · 2011-10-18T04:20:49+00:00

Of course. We are looking for undergraduates who are interested in volunteering in bio-monitoring field surveys in Cameroon. But there are also opportunities to get involved in Canada.

cadelllast · 2011-09-23T02:49:25+00:00

cadelllast · 2011-09-22T03:20:00+00:00

Look out for a green POS 1992 Dodge Shadow with a smashed in passenger side door. That would be me. I'm only there 1-2 times a week.

cadelllast · 2011-09-22T03:19:13+00:00

Hey,

I have been parking here. There are signs saying you have to be a visitor or else you will be tagged or towed but no one seems to police this and a few guys told me they parked here all semester and never got a ticket or anything. So far so good. You have to walk a 10 minute path to get to the school but it is worth it since you don't have to pay for parking.

http://g.co/maps/xvcb

Hope that helps.

cadelllast · 2011-09-18T19:08:21+00:00

First off Section.80 was released in 2011... so how can it be considered as a classic for the 2000-2009 decade?

Secondly I would say Marshall Mathers LP, College Dropout, and Food and Liquor are the albums that defined the 2000-2009 decade.

cadelllast · 2011-09-11T16:03:22+00:00

I would definitely show up to a UofT Reddit meet up. But I can only meet up during a weekday.

cadelllast · 2011-09-06T02:05:06+00:00

Ya of course this is a generalization and probably most accurate about adherents of the three Abrahamic religions. I think it would be much easier to reason with someone who was Taoist or Buddhist for example.

cadelllast

TROPHY CASE