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Darwin Day

Entry 710, on 2008-02-29 at 17:06:28 (Rating 4, Science)

February 12 was Darwin Day, the anniversary of Charles Darwin's birthday. Next year will be a special anniversary: 200 years since his birth. Why have you (possibly) never heard of this before? The recognition of this day started as a rather informal celebration, often involving a pub crawl and very little else. Today things are somewhat more formal, for example you can choose to send another person celebrating the day a greeting card with a tasteful annotation such as "I select you... naturally".

Why does Darwin need a special day? Of all the scientists who have changed our perceptions of the world he has perhaps done the most. OK, Einstein's contribution was brilliant in several areas and he truly revolutionised physics, but that doesn't seem to have had the same popular impact as Darwin's revelations (great word to use in that context, I think).

Newton was one of the most brilliant thinkers ever and introduced many systematic answers to problems of gravitation, motion, and light. Copernicus, Tycho and Kepler explained the motions and structure of the Universe. Hubble showed our Universe was expanding. Mendel showed how biological inheritance (a basic component of evolution that Darwin was ignorant of) worked. Bohr and Heisenberg introduced on the most important modern theory: quantum theory. Pasteur was important in introducing the foundations of modern medicine. But none of these had the long term influence to the average person that Darwin did.

There is still a rearguard action fighting evolution today, but there is really no realistic alternative. Creationism (and its dishonest offspring, intelligent design) is a dead theory. It just doesn't know its dead yet, like a zombie running amok in the world it will one day lose the will to live and drop dead.

The details of evolution have changed a lot since Darwin's day - contrary to the impression given by the creationists constant use of the word Darwinism - but the basic ideas he introduced remain the same. Evolution seems to be special because there doesn't seem to be quite the same denial of other theories, such as relativity, and even the Big Bang seems to get less attention.

My initial thought is that evolution is unpopular with some elements in society because it contradicts the Bible, but just about everything contradicts the Bible, so that doesn't really fit. Maybe the problem is that it finally removes humans as a special part of nature. The Bible teaches that (wrongly) and many people prefer to believe that humans are fundamentally different form other species. This is clearly not true.

But why should we care so much? Maybe if we understand our true place in the world we will be less likely to mistreat the rest of the natural world. If we think we are separate from or above nature we are more likely to treat the environment with contempt. If we see how other successful species have become extinct in the past we will take appropriate actions to try to prevent the same thing happening in the future. And I think a naturalistic world view is essential as a starting point for tackling the real issues we find ourselves facing.

Another factor favouring evolution for special treatment is timing. Darwin lived during a time when religion was still very strong (although its control was definitely weakening) so that the theory received a lot more negative treatment than more recent theories (like the Big Bang for example) which were developed during more enlightened times. The original opposition just seems to have continued for nearly 200 years (so far). The main opposition to the Big Bang was from other scientists supporting the Steady State model. Because that was science, and therefore affected by reason, the stronger theory prevailed. In religion, where people often believe the same old junk no matter how blatantly untrue it is, the crushing victory of evolution over creationism was never acknowledged.

So I think Darwin Day is genuinely worth celebrating. And now's the time to start planning for the big 200th birthday party on 12 February 2009.

Comment 1 (1223) by SBFL on 2008-02-29 at 23:23:15:

How many people coming to your 2009 Darwinian Day party?

"Mendel showed how biological inheritance (a basic component of evolution that Darwin was ignorant of) worked.". Mendel was an Augustinian priest. See religion and science do work well together, they ARE compatible. Not everyone takes a simplistic black-and-white view, as you often do.

Comment 2 (1227) by OJB on 2008-03-01 at 11:11:17:

Attendance at the party? Currently there would be one! :)

Many scientists in the past have been religious because everyone was religious - they really didn't have much choice. There are still religious scientists today, but not many, especially in the upper echelons of science.

And the two aspects of their lives are kept separate. Religious scientists don't use religion in their science, they seem to be able to keep the two separate because they are incompatible. I've listened to "religious scientists" being interviewed and it was weird - they could somehow accept two world views which contradicted each other.

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