tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161152391020319880.post171023539583589396..comments2023-10-09T09:50:06.932-04:00Comments on The Gallimaufriologist: The Scala Naturae and EvolutionSusan Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16610846892918466577noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161152391020319880.post-4835104345201726362009-05-19T11:57:00.000-04:002009-05-19T11:57:00.000-04:00very interesting perspectivevery interesting perspectiveAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161152391020319880.post-89244302109950076072008-08-08T18:24:00.000-04:002008-08-08T18:24:00.000-04:00Well, I have no proof of this, but my thought was ...Well, I have no proof of this, but my thought was thus: if people have this unconscious perception that evolution necessarily means increasing "perfection" and complexity due to this particular western worldview, and then they try to fit the real world into that erroneous model, it won't fit. This is because biology has shown us that life is way more complicated than just a simple hierarchy. The messiness of the wildly scattering tree doesn't fit into what they think of as evolution: increasing perfection and complexity over time, and so they reject (what they see as) evolution as unable to explain the wild diversity of life.<BR/>I'm not saying that this is the reason why most people are creationists, but perhaps it forms some parts of some people's reasoning on the subject. <BR/><BR/>Another reason I didn't really go into of why people might be so offended by evolution, is that this ingrained scala naturae worldview--backed up and preceeded by the book of Genesis of course--places humans squarely at the top of the chain of animals, apart from and superior to the lot. As that paper I mentioned in <I>Nature</I> shows, even evolutionary biologists have a hard time giving up that deeply-held faith that we are special. This is kind of a culturally traumatic belief to rescind.Susan Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16610846892918466577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161152391020319880.post-86518399956397099862008-08-08T17:57:00.000-04:002008-08-08T17:57:00.000-04:00Could you perhaps go into a little more detail on ...Could you perhaps go into a little more detail on why the ingrained ideas of scala naturae could be the reason people have been so (ridiculously) slow to accept evolution?<BR/><BR/>That's one of those things that made sense when I read it but not for any specific reason I could think of.<BR/><BR/>Except perhaps that compared to a wildly scattering tree the idea of marching up a ladder lends itself rather better to arguments of design.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12505507519580728909noreply@blogger.com