Tucker, Journey Chps. 8-11 Reflection

Tucker, Journey Chps. 8-11 Reflection
Origins from five to seven million years ago from Africa shows traces of human life that we have genetic roots with apes that have spread throughout countries. These species evolved to walk on two feet like we do, to be able to survive and move around. Then their brain sizes started changing, the bigger it got the smarter it got. The size of a grapefruit is really small but that size allowed them to make stone tools. The bigger their brains got the smarter and more skilled they became. It reminds me of something I read a long time ago that the smaller an animals brain is the more they sleep. For Example, cats are small animals therefore they have very small brains, my cats sleep soo much, its crazy. But I feel like if they had bigger brains like a wildcat or a tiger they would have more skills and be more active throughout the day. 
The things that make us humans are three main things, bipedalism, increased brain size and behavioral flexibility. I didn't really understand the symbolic consciousness section but that is what allows us to be creative and show our imaginations. The book uses DNA as a way of describing how cultures were passed DNA but in the sense of paintings. Knowledge was passed down through written generations for survival. This knowledge has now spread throughout Earth. Because our ancestors from Africa had many survival tools and knowledge they were able to quickly adapt to different environments which made it is easier to travel across lands and survive. Agricultural civilizations grew because humans began to interact and learn from river valley settlements. 
Before our existence the land was very rich but now because of us the oceans, atmosphere and earths soil is damaged. Which I think is a main problem right now in our time. We have problems with global warming, pollution and more importantly right now a serious drought. I think the problem is that we take from the land more than what we need.