I had not read Marilynne Robinson's extraordinary review of The God Delusion, so I'm glad Bryan linked to it. Bryan remarks that "I love the bone dry line 'he is admired for his prose'." In context the line is devastating: "Dawkins allows that our upward moral drift is a 'meandering sawtooth' — he is admired for his prose ..." A meandering sawtooth?
Bryan's take on Darwin is a perfect companion piece to Robinson's review. And, since I am not a scientist, I am going to ask what is probably a stupid question. Since survival is apparently the be-all and end-all of the Dawrwinian notion, does it provide any insight into why life moved beyond its most rudimentary stage? Bacteria and protozoa seem to have done quite well from the start and if survival is the point they continue to make it, whereas immense numbers of more complex organisms have dropped out of the discussion due to extinction.
I forgot to add that I think Bryan is right when he says, "In the absence of faith, the only rational position I can imagine is agnosticism." And were reason the only tool for arriving at the truth, then agnosticism would be the best we could do.
Bryan's take on Darwin is a perfect companion piece to Robinson's review. And, since I am not a scientist, I am going to ask what is probably a stupid question. Since survival is apparently the be-all and end-all of the Dawrwinian notion, does it provide any insight into why life moved beyond its most rudimentary stage? Bacteria and protozoa seem to have done quite well from the start and if survival is the point they continue to make it, whereas immense numbers of more complex organisms have dropped out of the discussion due to extinction.
I forgot to add that I think Bryan is right when he says, "In the absence of faith, the only rational position I can imagine is agnosticism." And were reason the only tool for arriving at the truth, then agnosticism would be the best we could do.
No comments:
Post a Comment