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enfinblue's Bluey (credit to Fifi for the nickname!) Diaryland Diary

"I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart." -Vinc3nt V@n Gogh

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What Darw!n saw.

You know, it's the anniversary of Darwin's birth these days, and so they're writing about him.

My first book of segments of The Orig!n of the Species I got when I was a little girl. You can thank my uncle for that.

I was reading in the paper a thoughtful quote today though, and I think that it's worth reading and thinking about. The great humanists are always worth thinking about. We neglect the nuances of the past so quickly.

I need to find the exact quote (Here it is: "I should premise that I use the term Struggle for Existence in a large and metaphorical sense, including dependence of one being on another...") but here's the accompanying commentary from a commentator to a blog on the NYT:

A Struggle Not Limited to Physical Combat: What I like about this particular quote is how Darwin was averse to the simplifications of many contemporary popularizers of evolutionary biology. One often hears that nature is where the strong survive, and that might is right, so that those who are too weak to do well not only may perish, but in fact ought to perish. Darw!n didn't endorse any such views, and didn't see nature as the gladiator's show that his public defender, Thomas H3nry Huxley, projected onto it. For him, the term "struggle" was not limited to physical combat. Darw!n considered it possible that some animals survive through cooperation, depending on one another, and that others survive simply by being better at finding food, fighting off diseases, or withstanding the cold or dryness of their climate. Fitness in a given environment may mean having a thick fat layer, or possessing sharp eyes. Physical strength is only one out of thousands of traits that determine which individuals will do well. This contains a profound lesson for those who wish to apply Darwinism to society around us, going so far as calling Wall Street a �Darwinian jungle.� Wall Street hasn't done too well with its simplistic dog-eat-dog view, and should pay more attention to true evolutionary theory, which stresses adaptability to change rather than direct competition. -- Fr@ns B. M. de Waal, C. H. C@ndler Professor of Primate Behavior, Em0ry University, Atlanta, Georgia

I really believe that. We all are dealt different hands, but we can all adapt in positive ways. We can adapt to change and flourish. That's the stuff we are made of.

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9:17 p.m. - 2009-09-09

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