hazelk | Birthdays

I’ve missed so many birthday

molly_may,

laurashapiro,

ninerva,

counteragent,

charmax,

shadowkat,

fan_eunice and the big one, Charles Darwin’s 200th. Shamefully I’m never exactly sure when that is.

The thing is, for most biologists the fundamental cause for celebration isn’t Darwin but his theory, descent with modification, natural and sexual selection. However, even though the good parts are still good, evolutionary theory has substantially changed since its original formulation. Focusing on Darwin can feel like retiring, putting papers in order and developing an interest in genealogy. Having said that, Darwin is still very good for teaching purposes. Behind the beard and the other Victorian trappings he embodies a stealth mechanism for conveying the process instead of its current end point. How to put questions and test answers not whatever the latest orthodoxy happens to be.

Perhaps the one quote eny fule biologist noes is the one by Dobzhansky:

Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution

It can be heartwarming to reflect on every time the next dumb survey comes out purporting to show that 50% of UK citizens believe creationism should be taught in science lessons but it’s still a little misleading, at least in so far as it suggests that what evolution offers is answers. In one sense it does but those answers are constantly being overwritten. The real attraction of the theory is its ability to generate a never-ending series of questions. Darwin’s theory of evolution allows us to maintain a childlike curiosity about living things. To keep chasing the light down an infinite rabbit hole without ever bumping into the train of “that’s just the way things are.”