How Improving My Reading Skills Improved My Writing

Essay #3 (Improved Essay)

The understanding of humanity is limited and the modern view of humans has only been
slowly uncovered by philosophers and writers. Many of these writers and philosophers helped
pushed the envelope of human understanding to new levels, but even then we are still learning
something new. These old writers and philosophers were more focused on explaining
fundamental ideas or underlying themes whether it be the primal instincts of the human
psychology or the origins of humanity and how the environmental forces shaped humans today.
Charles Darwin is one of these philosophers that helped forge the human understanding and is
the one of the most influential in discussing humanity as a whole in a contemporary view. His
work influenced science, society, and psychology and has forever changed how humanity sees
itself in the following years of its publication.
Charles Darwins influenced the scientific world in fields such as biology and anatomy.
Most of the studies and findings conducted under these fields all support Darwins theory of
natural selection and evolution. Darwin defines this theory as a physical change of a species or a
proportion of a species due to environmental factors exerted onto the specimens and his most
famous anecdotal evidence were the finches of the Galapagos Islands. Major pieces that support
this theory are similarities in DNA between creatures, the Human Genome Project, and the fossil
record. These can help make predictions of how species change, or more interestingly, how
humans change. Because of the mountains of evidence supporting Darwins theory, it is the most
supported theory of all time.
Even though Darwins findings were specifically geared for science and non-humans -to
avoid conflict with theologians- others brought it to human society to justify their insane

amounts of wealth, power, or both. This was most common during the Roaring 20s when people
like Carnegie and Rockefeller became enormously rich due to exploits in rising industries. Their
rhetoric states that people who are competent and capable will rise up the ladder while the weak
will suffer and stay at the bottom. Although less common, people still use this excuse today to
justify their wealth or actions. While these people use this theory to support their fortunes and
other peoples misfortunes, Darwins theory only applies to the natural world. The world that
these enormously rich are living in is not the natural world and is not driven by biological
processes but rather by human agency.
While Darwins theory touched many fields and topics, it subtly glosses over psychology
and its usually one of the last things that people think about when discussing Darwin or
evolution. However, this is an immensely important aspect of Darwins theory because it shows
that humanity isnt driven by the supernatural, but rather by biological processes. The way
humanity thinks, the conscious, the subconscious, are there to protect us as a species and help
prevent us from doing reckless things. The feeling of disgust is there to protect us from the
diseases of the natural world, the eternal want of sustenance drives us to look for food and water,
and the want to procreate or have sex makes us want to have children are all part of the human
psychology but are put in place by Darwins theory of evolution because these psychological
functions help humans survive. Before Darwin, religion was the answer to human psychology
and the reason for disorders and such were demonic possessions or the person was a demon. Due
to Darwins influence, the psychological community now looks as the human mind as a sort
mechanical unit and they try to find why the mind works the way it does.
After Darwins publication of the On the Origin of Species, the findings caused
shockwaves everywhere in the world. Even though some people are very critical of the theory,

there is no doubt that this is currently the most influential book in the scientific world.

Research Paper (Subpar Essay)

Happiness is a strong emotion that has been the central theme of many poems and art
pieces. Happiness is showing positive or pleasant emotions ranging from subtle to intense.
However, its clear that there are countries in this world that are not content due to lack proper
structure in the system. The question still remains who is responsible for an individuals
happiness. On one hand, its the individuals own happiness and therefore should go out and get

it for him or herself. However, society, throughout history, has shown that it has great influence
over a persons happiness. Even it is ultimately up to the individual, society must create a
foundation in which the pursuit of happiness is possible. With all the things taken into
consideration, it is primarily the societys job to create economic security, safety, and political
stability as a bare bones structure for conditions of a happy society.
When looking at the worlds happiest countries, most of them tend to be economically
secure such as the Scandinavian region or Canada. There is a direct correlation between how
economically secure people are and how happy they are. Elbieta Babula and Mrzygd
Urszulas article Economic Determinants Of Happiness Among European Nations goes over
and compares each European nation and found that economics plays a very significant role in
peoples overall happiness. This is the case because people that are economically safe dont have
to worry about money as much as someone else who isnt as fortunate. They can put more time
and resources into recreation that proves instrumental to their happiness such as time with family
and friends, entertainment, or learning a new skill.
Despite money having a major impact on happiness, its not the only major contributor to
happiness in a society. Referring back to the Scandinavian region and Canada, statistics also
show that they tend to be one of the least violent countries in the world. When looking at a
country like United States of America, despite all of its money, it doesnt rank high when
compared to countries like Canada. The article What Would Make a Society Happier Society,
it talks about the details of a safe community and how safety and security greatly boosts a
persons happiness. In fact, this has the biggest effect on happiness when compared to other
factors such as money and economic security. This is similar to economic security, but instead
about worrying about resources, the person or people worry more about health, safety, and

survival. It also has been shown that even economically inferior countries such as Costa Rica still
show high amounts of happiness due to the lack of violence.
As history has shown, political stability is a big contributor to overall contentment and
happiness, and it still continues to play that large role. Countries that lacked political stability can
be endlessly listed, but the one of the more notable ones was the American Revolution. The
American Revolution happened because of many things, and political instability was one of
them. Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence and listed every grievance and
injustice due to Britains policies. Political instability was one of those issues, even though it
wasnt stated just implied, because they had laws on the colonies they wanted to follow, but the
Britishs policies and laws caused the colonies to keep changing even after the war has ended.
When looking at political systems that help promote this stability and overall happiness,
Democracy seems to be a rising star. Aristotle defines Democracy as a political system in which
the poor and majority rule the government directly. However, the Democracy he defines is a
system that no country uses due to its impracticality in large countries, but it may be possible in
the future if the technology is advanced enough to handle such a proposition.
Throughout human history there have been both happy and discontent societies, whether
it be golden ages or oppressive dictators respectively. While it is still not entirely known what
makes people happy, the formula needed for a content society still needs to cover the basic needs
of a human being such as resources, shelter, safety, and stability of all types. Although it is still
up to the individual to pursue happiness, the responsibility still lies on societys shoulders to
make a place where overall happiness can exist.