| Revision as of 15:35, 12 September 2006 editJordanDeLong (talk | contribs)47 edits add back NPOV (the POV *is* disputed, even if Diza doesn't think there's a problem; munge a quote to actually match the text in the book; and remove the Christianity comment← Previous edit | Revision as of 21:47, 15 September 2006 edit undoDidius~enwiki (talk | contribs)43 edits I have been quite bold, see talk page.Next edit → | ||
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| ] | ] | ||
| '''Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life''' (]) is a ] by ] which argues that ]es are the central organising force in the ]. Dennet asserts that ] is a blind and ]ic process which is sufficiently powerful to account for everything from the laws of ] and the ] of the ] through the generation and ] of ] to the ins and outs of ] ]s and ]. These assertions have generated a great deal of debate and discussion within the ]. | |||
| == Main Ideas == | |||
| ⚫ | Dennett regards Darwinism as a "universal ]" that eats through virtually all traditional beliefs. |
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| People "used to think of meaning coming from on high and being ordained from the top down," Dennett says, but we must now "replace the traditional idea of God the ] with the idea of the process of natural selection doing the creating." | |||
| Selected quotations (page numbers in parentheses): | |||
| ==== Universal Acid ==== | |||
| *"Darwin's dangerous idea cuts much deeper into the fabric of our most fundamental beliefs than many of its sophisticated apologists have yet admitted, even to themselves." (18) | |||
| ⚫ | Dennett regards Darwinism as a "universal ]" that eats through virtually all traditional beliefs. Dennett describes ] as a ] and ] ] for moving through "Design Space". | ||
| *"To put it bluntly but fairly, anyone today who doubts that the variety of life on this planet was produced by a process of evolution is simply ignorant--inexcusably ignorant." (46) | |||
| *"Evolutionists who see no conflict between evolution and their religious beliefs have been careful not to look as closely as we have been looking, or else hold a religious view that gives God what we might call a merely ceremonial role to play." (310) | |||
| ==== Biology as Engineering ==== | |||
| *"Those whose visions dictate that they cannot peacefully coexist with the rest of us we will have to ] as best we can. . . . If you insist on teaching your children falsehoods--that the Earth is flat, that 'Man' is not a product of evolution by natural selection--then you must expect, at the very least, that those of us who have freedom of speech will feel free to describe your teachings as the spreading of falsehoods, and will attempt to demonstrate this to your children at the earliest opportunity. Our future well-being--the well-being of all of us on this planet--depends on the education of our descendants. What, then, of all the glories of our religious traditions? They should certainly be preserved, as should the languages, the art, the costumes, the rituals, the monuments." (519) | |||
| ==== Memes, Culture, and Morality ==== | |||
| == Controversies == | |||
| *"Is something ]? Yes, I say with ]. I could not pray to it, but I can stand in affirmation of its magnificence. This world is sacred." (520) | |||
| * "preserved in cultural zoos. . . ." | |||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
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| * in the ''Journal of Scientific Exploration''. | * in the ''Journal of Scientific Exploration''. | ||
| * to Dennett's "neo-Darwinian orthodoxy" from the New York Review of Books, June 26, 1997. | * to Dennett's "neo-Darwinian orthodoxy" from the New York Review of Books, June 26, 1997. | ||
| * | |||
| ] | ] | ||
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Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life (1995) is a controversial book by Daniel Dennett which argues that Darwinian processes are the central organising force in the Universe. Dennet asserts that natural selection is a blind and algorithmic process which is sufficiently powerful to account for everything from the laws of physics and the creation of the Universe through the generation and evolution of life to the ins and outs of human minds and societies. These assertions have generated a great deal of debate and discussion within the scientific community.
Main Ideas
Universal Acid
Dennett regards Darwinism as a "universal acid" that eats through virtually all traditional beliefs. Dennett describes natural selction as a substrate neutral and mindless algorithm for moving through "Design Space".
Biology as Engineering
Memes, Culture, and Morality
Controversies
References
See also
External links
- Book review in the Journal of Scientific Exploration.
- Gould's response to Dennett's "neo-Darwinian orthodoxy" from the New York Review of Books, June 26, 1997.
- Dennet's response to criticism.