Argh!
Why is it that the topic I love in Social Sciences is never the one I have to write essays on?
I started this path after reading a BRILLIANT book called "Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution & The Meaning of Life" by Daniel C. Dennett. If you have ANY interest in evolution and Darwin, about the science and the social landscape in which that idea just rocked the foundations of everything....I recommend it. It is, in many ways, a science book and takes some work. But if you have the interest, do it. Whether you love or hate it, you will have an opinion.
Anyway, current topic to be covered "Evolutionary Psychology". I have a head start, I have interest nay, passion for this stuff. Do I get to write an essay on it... Nooooooo!
Arse.
Still, I have learn that DNA is an abbreviation of Deoxyribonucleic Acid. And that our DNA was, yes a mixture of our parents DNA , but the exact code was one of a possible 70 billion genetic patterns between the mixture of their DNA. 70 Billion! And that...in a nutshell is why I find evolution and evolutionary psychology fascinating. All of that choice, all of those alternatives and yet we are the way we are. Incredible.
One thing I really find difficult is the use of "survival of the fittest" and Darwin's name being related to that sort of low-level bullshit. Nonsense. It's about the ability to adapt and how this gets filtered into our DNA - we are the product of 5 million years of 'human' existence, not to mention the primates and other lifeforms we have evolved from. That doesn't happen in five minutes and it doesn't mean people have an excuse to say "sod everyone else, I'm looking after me". Adaptation isn't selfish, it's smart. And moreover, it relies on a handy dollop of chance. Where would we be without random factors, eh?
*steps off soapbox"
Rant over..
Goodnight lovely f-list!
I started this path after reading a BRILLIANT book called "Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution & The Meaning of Life" by Daniel C. Dennett. If you have ANY interest in evolution and Darwin, about the science and the social landscape in which that idea just rocked the foundations of everything....I recommend it. It is, in many ways, a science book and takes some work. But if you have the interest, do it. Whether you love or hate it, you will have an opinion.
Anyway, current topic to be covered "Evolutionary Psychology". I have a head start, I have interest nay, passion for this stuff. Do I get to write an essay on it... Nooooooo!
Arse.
Still, I have learn that DNA is an abbreviation of Deoxyribonucleic Acid. And that our DNA was, yes a mixture of our parents DNA , but the exact code was one of a possible 70 billion genetic patterns between the mixture of their DNA. 70 Billion! And that...in a nutshell is why I find evolution and evolutionary psychology fascinating. All of that choice, all of those alternatives and yet we are the way we are. Incredible.
One thing I really find difficult is the use of "survival of the fittest" and Darwin's name being related to that sort of low-level bullshit. Nonsense. It's about the ability to adapt and how this gets filtered into our DNA - we are the product of 5 million years of 'human' existence, not to mention the primates and other lifeforms we have evolved from. That doesn't happen in five minutes and it doesn't mean people have an excuse to say "sod everyone else, I'm looking after me". Adaptation isn't selfish, it's smart. And moreover, it relies on a handy dollop of chance. Where would we be without random factors, eh?
*steps off soapbox"
Rant over..
Goodnight lovely f-list!