Following the basic principles of science can help us develop more valid, reliable, balanced, and predictive understandings of life around us. The basic scientific method is controlled comparison As we compare similarities and differences across phenomena, we can determine what relationships and influences exist in life events, and also which suspected or perceived ones are not valid. The basic ethnological method is cross-cultural comparison , as we compare different cultural patterns in order to determine what factors influence the human experience. In making interpretations and supporting conclusions With this awareness, we can maximize our chances for obtaining more valid and reliable information, for making grounded interpretations, and, perhaps most important, qualifying our interpretations to acknowledge where they are and are not relevant. Forms Humans are only one of the millions of life forms on earth.
Biological evolution is a change in the frequency of genes in a population over time.
The basic mechanism of biological evolution is natural selection , where the carriers of those genes which are more adaptive to environmental conditions survive and pass on those genes in greater frequency over generations. Diversity is adaptive , because the more different types of traits in a group the more likely the group will have the necessary potentials to meet environmental challenges , particularly new and unforeseen ones. As we compare ourselves with other species on Earth, we can see that humans share many morphological and behavioral traits with other life forms, from single cell organisms, to vertibrates, to mammals, to primates and great apes. We can also see that humans have some morphological and behavioral traits that are relatively unique, including brain structures, reproductive behavior, verbal communication, and abstract and integative thinking. Humans primary means of adaptation is by culture .