Darwin's Dangerous Idea

Darwin's view on human nature was that of the nature of animality, that humans are not different or unique from other animals. However, because humans have a relatively larger brain than the rest of the animals, we are able to control our destiny and evolution and therefore are different than other animals.



I had this written down in my notes (I'm not sure if it related to Darwin though): "God of the Gap", meaning that when people didn't know what caused the thunder, rain, etc. they invented a "God" for it, "God of Thunder." Then, when they realized what actually caused the thunder, rain etc., there was not longer a "God" for it. Now they claim there is only "God the creator." I think it is safe to say that if all the other "Gods" got cancelled out, so can the last one.


I thought it was interesting how Darwin never used "the survival of the fittest" in his writings. I think that just goes to show how loosely based theories and facts are and cannot be depended. What if whoever came up with "the survival of the fittest" was talking about bowl movements?

"A popular misnomer, the 'food chain' is not actually a linear chain but a complex web. Energy is passed from one organism to another in a complex network like a spider's web." I agree with this statement more than the one we talked about in class that it is like a pyramid.


Why do things die?
Because they live.