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Biological Adaptation Examples Include Adaptations for Music and Language
To qualify as a biological adaptation:
- Humans in all present-day cultures must use the adaptation.
- Evidence from history and anthropology must indicate the adaptation’s existence in ancient cultures.
- Evidence from palaeontology must indicate the adaptation’s existence to some degree in extinct hominid species—that is, in other species of bipedal human-like primates, all now extinct.
All of the above apply to language and bipedalism. They also apply to music. Every human culture ever known has had music. Even societies that do not have well-developed visual arts show sophisticated musical development.
Today, practically all normal adult human beings:
- Can and do sing to some degree (Pop Idol/American Idol contestants notwithstanding), even if only in the privacy of an elevator or on the back of a horse in the hills south of Tulsa.
- Can and do tap at least one foot to a tune, once in a while (an important qualification as you’ll see in a minute).
- Listen to self-chosen music, purchase music, and otherwise show appreciation for music at some level. (“I could’ve played guitar like Jimi, but I chose to go into accounting instead, to meet more women.”)