I've read a lot about evolution over the years, from Darwin's original work to that of contemporary scientists like Richard Dawkins. (Anyone who knows me or follows my blog knows how much I admire RD.) It is an eternally fascinating subject.
Darwin is the more famous, of course, but on his birthday we should not forget the contributions of Alfred Russel Wallace, who conceived the theory of natural selection concurrently with, but independently of, Charles Darwin.
Being more of a wannabe physicist than a wannabe biologist, I've also been fascinated by the writing of Eric Chaisson. He takes a look at evolution much before biological evolution was possible--from the big bang forward. How did matter coalesce from energy? How did matter form structures that enabled life to exist? After all, for biological evolution to even be possible, the structures that enable it had to come from somewhere. (And since I don't believe they sprang fully formed from the head of Zeus, Odin, Yahweh, Allah, Shiva, or GOD, I think Chaisson makes a pretty compelling argument in his book, The Life Era.)
I'll also use this time as an opportunity to plug the recent publication of my friend Eric's book, Darwin Slept Here. This is not so much an account of the science of Darwin as the adventures he took that led to his scientific discoveries. Let's not forget that Darwin was not cooped up in a lab conceiving of natural selection through Aristotle's notion of discovery through pure reason. Charles was out in the field, exploring the world, living and breathing nature and adventure.
But back to my original subject. For those interested in things Darwinian, there are lots of activities celebrating this bicentennial. You can find events in your area here.
This anniversary sadly reveals the decline in science and general intellect in this country. When more people believe in angels (for which there is precisely zero evidence) than evolution, you know we are doomed.
And here's another reason NOT to be a republican: they are dumb-asses.
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4 comments:
Matthew,
While there is little doubt that the GOP does seem to be drifting ever more to the right, I find much more disturbing its increasingly tight death embrace of anti-intellectualism in general. When confronted with facts threatening so many of their long held tenants regarding the economy, foreign relations or culture they have simply rejected science and history in order to maintain mindshare. This strategy certainly resonates in an increasingly uneducated electorate. In the end, I am confident that it has and will continue to fail but only after inflicting untold damage on our society. Even worse, it leaves the marketplace of ideas dominated by a single political party-the Democrats.
this is great info. I will have to look into Mr Dawkins writings.
Happy 200th Birthday, Chuck!!
While I was reading your post and the associated links, Matthew, I was again astounded by the inertia of the number of religious believers who scoff at quantifiable evidence that evolution is happening while holding onto a heavily-flawed set of beliefs based on the writings of non-witnesses living several hundred years after a Jewish carpenter might have been crucified. Accepting that this large chunk of the population has chosen to follow the Bible-bearing lemmings to the edge of the Cliffs of Ignorance, it is easier to understand how the image and perception and esteem of America has fallen into rapid decline throughout the world. And while I think that I am a bit more optimistic about the eventual rise of our citizenry out of their collective lack of understanding or education, I will have to accept that the change may be slower than I would wish, probably taking several generations as our educational system is slowly reinvigorated under hopefully less ignorant governments than the science-is-bad cults of the Bush family regimes.
And, if we can start educating our children, then our children are less likely to elect less-than-intelligent politicians.
So, if we believe in evolution, maybe we can believe that our collective level of intelligence will continue to evolve as well, even with the cancerous evangelical cults trying to muck the clear water of understanding.
Buckley, I'd like to think you are correct, but we must remember that natural selection doesn't guarantee improvement. It only promotes successful reproduction and traits that enable that. If greater intelligence confers an advantage in terms of survivability and reproduction, then yes, as a species we will get smarter. I don't think that is happening, though.
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