Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book:  Darwin , Charles (2010-01-14), The Descent of Man, Dover Publications, Retrieved on 2011-05-18
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  • Folksonomies: evolution classic

    Memes

    21 SEP 2011

     Evolution is No More Irreligious Than Birth Through Biolo...

    I am aware that the conclusions arrived at in this work will be denounced by some as highly irreligious; but he who denounces them is bound to shew why it is more irreligious to explain the origin of man as a distinct species by descent from some lower form, through the laws of variation and natural selection, than to explain the birth of the individual through the laws of ordinary reproduction [the pattern of development].
      1  notes

    Darwin challenges the religious to explain why being related to primates is any worse than being conceived through sexual intercourse.

    18 MAY 2011

     Ignorance Begets Confidence

    It has often and confidently been asserted, that man's origin can never be known: but ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.
    Folksonomies: knowledge virtue ignorance
    Folksonomies: knowledge virtue ignorance
     1  1  notes

    Those who know little are more likely to positively assert things.

    23 MAR 2012

     Embryonic Recapitulation

    By considering the embryological structure of man - the homologies which he presents with the lower animals - the rudiments which he retains - and the reversions to which he is liable, we can partly recall in imagination the former condition of our early progenitors; and we can approximately place them in their proper position in the zoological series. We thus learnt that man is descended from a hairy quadruped, furnished with a tail and pointed ears, probably arboreal in its habit, and an in...
      1  notes

    Darwin seems to hint at it in this passage.

    23 MAR 2012

     Proud to be Descendant of Monkeys

    For my own part I would as soon be descended from that heroic little monkey, who braved his dreaded enemy in order to save the life of his keeper; or from that old baboon, who, descending from the mountains, carried away in triumph his young comrade from a crowd of astonished dogs—as from a savage who delights to torture his enemies, offers up bloody sacrifices, practices infanticide without remorse, treats his wives like slaves, knows no decency, and is haunted by the grossest superstitions.
      1  notes

    Who often exhibit acts of heroism and valor compared to humans who often don't.

    21 SEP 2011

     Man is Noble...

    Man may be excused for feeling some pride at having risen, though not through his own exertions, to the very summit of the organic scale; and the fact of his having thus risen, instead of having been aboriginally placed there, may give him hopes for a still higher destiny in the distant future. But we are not here concerned with hopes or fears, only with the truth as far as our reason allows us to discover it. I have given the evidence to the best of my ability; and we must acknowledge, as it...
    Folksonomies: evolution ascent descent
    Folksonomies: evolution ascent descent
      1  notes

    ...but still "bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin." A quote from Charles Darwin.

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