• 2022-05-31
    Practice4
    CharlesDarwindidn’twanttomurderGod,asheonceputit.Buthedid.Hedidn’twanttodefyhisfellowCantabrigians,hisgentlemanlyVictoriansociety,hisdevoutwife.Buthedid.Hewaited20yearstopublishhistheoryofnaturalselection,but—fittingly,afteranotherscientistthreatenedtobefirst—hedid.
    BeforeDarwin,mostpeopleacceptedsomeversionofbiblicalcreation.Humanswereseenastheapotheosisofgodlyarchitecture.Humanscouldthusbeanaccidentofnaturalselection,notadirectproductofGod.Worriesabouthowmuchhistheorywouldshakesocietyexacerbatedthestrangeillnesseshesuffered.It’salsoworthnotingthatDarwin’slifewasn’tDarwinian:heachievedhiswealththroughinheritance,notcompetition,andsomemightsayhissicklychildrensufferedbecausetheywereinbred.
    Darwin’stheoriesstillprovokeopposition.OnehundredandfortyyearsafterTheOriginofSpecies,backersofcreationismhavemadeacomebackinstateslikeKansas,pushingevolutionoutoftheschoolroom.YetDarwinismremainsoneofthemostsuccessfulscientifictheorieseverpromulgated.Thereishardlyanelementofhumanity—notcapitalism,notgenderrelations,certainlynotbiology—thatcanbefullyunderstoodwithoutitshelp.
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