09 Feb '13 05:40>1 edit
written by a friend's dad.
May be found at:
http://www.humanists.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2013-02-NL.pdf
Mr. Darwin & Us
We in the Humanist Community like to
celebrate Darwin Day on February 12th, his
birthdate, because we sense Darwin would
be a kindred spirit. He expressed
several qualities that we value, and I wish to
comment on some of them.
First, he was a learner, and we hope to
continue in his example. He was a scientific
learner: a critical, discerning observer and
recorder of reality, i.e., facts, details, and
most importantly, patterns and their
varying consequences. Witness his analysis
of Darwin's finches (check out the Wikipedia
article on this subject).
Second, he could analyze and synthesize
what he observed in a rational way. That is,
he created good theory from reality. To me
this is not just a mechanistic process using
deductive and inductive logic, but it also has
an enriching humanities aspect,
sometimes involving analogical or even
metaphorical reasoning - as compelling as a
good story or poem, or an elegant proof of a
mathematical concept. (Some balk at this.)
A third virtue of Darwin was his strong
respect for authority, but in his case it was the
authority that we hear in
the Missourian’s curmudgeonly
challenge, "Show me." For Darwin, books of
mystical tales, guarded by priests and other
holy men, had no particular relevance in
trying to learn and understand the world
before us. He did not wish to be told what to
believe because it says so in Genesis.
A fourth point about Darwin’s science is that
his observational style and
resources were not simply a matter of mere
null-hypothesis testing. The history of
scientific method is much richer than that,
allowing for the exploration of broad
hypotheses.
And certainly, the outgrowths of Darwin's
work in the fields of genetics and elsewhere
are intriguing, and we humanists find
studying and discussing these ideas
fascinating and good fun! Again, there is a
feeling that we in the HC and Darwin may be
kindred spirits.
Jon Stephens
May be found at:
http://www.humanists.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2013-02-NL.pdf
Mr. Darwin & Us
We in the Humanist Community like to
celebrate Darwin Day on February 12th, his
birthdate, because we sense Darwin would
be a kindred spirit. He expressed
several qualities that we value, and I wish to
comment on some of them.
First, he was a learner, and we hope to
continue in his example. He was a scientific
learner: a critical, discerning observer and
recorder of reality, i.e., facts, details, and
most importantly, patterns and their
varying consequences. Witness his analysis
of Darwin's finches (check out the Wikipedia
article on this subject).
Second, he could analyze and synthesize
what he observed in a rational way. That is,
he created good theory from reality. To me
this is not just a mechanistic process using
deductive and inductive logic, but it also has
an enriching humanities aspect,
sometimes involving analogical or even
metaphorical reasoning - as compelling as a
good story or poem, or an elegant proof of a
mathematical concept. (Some balk at this.)
A third virtue of Darwin was his strong
respect for authority, but in his case it was the
authority that we hear in
the Missourian’s curmudgeonly
challenge, "Show me." For Darwin, books of
mystical tales, guarded by priests and other
holy men, had no particular relevance in
trying to learn and understand the world
before us. He did not wish to be told what to
believe because it says so in Genesis.
A fourth point about Darwin’s science is that
his observational style and
resources were not simply a matter of mere
null-hypothesis testing. The history of
scientific method is much richer than that,
allowing for the exploration of broad
hypotheses.
And certainly, the outgrowths of Darwin's
work in the fields of genetics and elsewhere
are intriguing, and we humanists find
studying and discussing these ideas
fascinating and good fun! Again, there is a
feeling that we in the HC and Darwin may be
kindred spirits.
Jon Stephens