4.15.13
WHGC
N. Merchant
Darwin and E.O.Wilson
The theory of natural selection is an algorithmic theory (that is, it is mechanistic, mindless and pointless!) is
used to explain apparent intentional design. The theory applies whenever certain conditions obtain (and,
importantly, it doesn’t apply if these conditions aren’t met 1).
Natural Selection, the core.2
The core of natural selection is that when replicators arise (of any sort) and make copies of themselves
(1) their numbers will tend, under ideal conditions, to increase exponentially;
(2) they will necessarily compete for finite resources;
(3) some will undergo random copying errors ("random" in the sense that they do not anticipate
their effects in the current environment); and
(4) whichever copying errors happen to increase the rate of replication will accumulate in a
lineage and predominate in the population.
Darwin
Discussion questions on the reading.
1. Chapter I: variation under domestication
o The title of Chapter I is variation under domestication. What does Darwin mean by
definite variability and indefinite variability? (pp. 10)
 In what way does the predominance of indefinite variability over definite
variability in changed conditions support Darwin’s argument for natural
selection?
o Darwin has a long passage in which he discusses the provenance of domestic pigeons
starting on page 21. What evidence does he adduce to argue that domestic pigeons, in
their extreme variability, descend from a common ancestor? (pp. 26: cross-breed fertility,
pp.26: difficulty in domesticating any species)
 How does he use the single origin of domestic pigeons as evidence for
evolution? (pp. 32)
2.
Chapter II: variation under nature
o Starting on page 46, going through page 53, Darwin discusses why he thinks the term
‘species’ is a fairly arbitrary term, not always distinguishable from the term ‘variety’.
Why purpose does this passage serve? How do the facts from this section support his
argument for natural selection?
 Elsewhere Darwin refers to varieties as ‘insipient species’. What does he mean
by this if the term ‘species’ is so problematic?
3.
Chapter III: struggle for existence
o What types of struggles for existence does Darwin discuss on pp. 62? What other types of
struggles would fit Darwin’s characterization?
1
Of course, one can use natural selection in a metaphorical sense, but one has stepped off the biological
reservation, leaving behind the sense in which Darwin and biologists usually use the term.
2
The “core” 1-4 are taken, verbatim, from Steven Pinker’s article “The False Allure of Group Selection”
(http://edge.org/conversation/the-false-allure-of-group-selection), a fun read regardless of what side of the
group selection debate one falls on.
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o
o
4.
Read the second paragraph of this chapter (starting on pp. 61). Read it again. (It lays out
the whole theory of natural selection.) Discuss why Darwin claims it could equally well
be described by the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’. Provide some examples that Darwin
uses (Chapter IV is particularly useful for this purpose).
On pp. 72 Darwin describes the result of clear-cutting an American forest. He contrasts
this with Native American ruins in the southern U.S. How does this pertain to E.O.
Wilson’s article? Envision the forest-islands of America.
Chapter IV: natural selection; or the survival of the fittest
o Darwin, on pp. 77, mentions that some people have erroneously concluded that natural
selection produces variability. What is Darwin’s rebuttal to this claim?
o On the same page he also rebuts the claim that ‘selection’ implies conscious choice. What
sayeth he on this topic?
o On pp. 84 Darwin describes sexual selection. Describe what this is, and some of the
evidence Darwin uses. Does this process run counter to natural selection?
o On pp. 86 Darwin discusses wolves of two (imaginary) varieties. How does this support
his argument for natural selection?
o There is a belief that organisms ‘advance’ in structure over time (through either evolution
or some equivalent process). Darwin argues against this on multiple fronts starting on pp.
118. Larmarck believed quite firmly in the advancement of life, a position Larmarck
realized left unexplained why lower-formed life-forms abound. What did Larmarck
proffer as an explanation for the abundance of lower forms? (pp. 120) How does
Darwin’s theory obviate the need for an explanation?
What follow are selected useful suggestions from (mostly) nameless Moodlean contributors, with each
delimited block a likely day’s activities.
Darwin and/or E.O.Wilson
Discuss/debate the following statements about science pro and con:
1. In science there is one and only one correct solution, but in the humanities there is no such thing
as a wrong answer.
2. Science holds the only possibility of reaching truth in the modern age.
3. Science education suffers from too much emphasis on convergent (traditional) thinking as
opposed to divergent thinking (the capacity for open-mindedness and skepticism about accepted
theory.)
4. Science is by definition objective, amoral (unconcerned with morality one way or the other).
Scientists have no moral responsibility for the ways in which their discoveries may be put to use
(the atom bomb and test tube babies are two examples).
5. Science is a more exciting field than the humanities because revolutionary discoveries occur only
rarely in the humanities but are made in science every week.
6. Science offers us the best means of coming to know nature and our place in it.
Darwin
Discussion Questions
1. The advances in our knowledge of DNA and the transmission of genetic information have made
possible the prediction of a great number of genetic diseases in a human fetus, as well as of other
information, such as the child’s sex. Should parents have access to this information? Should they
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have the right to abort a child which tests positive for Down’s syndrome, for example, or some
other genetic disease or abnormality? Who should decide?
The scientific capacity to “map” genes could eventually enable parents to program not only their
children’s hair and eye color, but also physical and intellectual characteristics. Should parents be
able to alter the genetic material of their children when no disease or threat to health is involved?
Why or why not?
Evolution, according to Douglas Futuyma in Science on Trial: The Case for Evolution, has
assumed the status of fact. Discuss this assertion in the light of the argument of creationists that
evolution is outside the realm of science because it cannot be observed or proven by definitive
evidence.
Certain opponents of evolution argue that Darwinism can lead to such monstrosities as Hitler’s
attempt to create a master race. Discuss this argument in the light of Darwin’s statement, drawn
from the Origin of Species, that “[There is] ... one general law, leading to the advancement of all
organic beings, namely, multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the weakest die.”
Should creationism (the belief that the Biblical concept of creation has as much as, or more
scientific validity than evolution) be taught in the public schools as an alternative view to
evolution? Why or why not?
Jeremy Rifkin (author of Algeny, a critique of Darwinism), arguing against the “dogma of
immaculate perception” (the idea that scientific theories arise in a vacuum and have
unquestionable validity), maintains that Darwin’s theory provided justification for the exploitation
and abuses of the Industrial Revolution and of British imperialism in the nineteenth century: “...
industrial man and woman were armed with the ultimate justification they needed to continue their
relentless exploitation of the environment and their fellow human beings without ever having to
stop for even a moment to reflect on the consequences of their actions” (108). Consider the
validity of Rifkin’s argument.
Darwin and/or E.O.Wilson
Discussion Questions
1. First, review key elements of the modern scientific method.
2. Discuss how each of these texts illustrates the use of this method:
o What data or evidence is used?
o What hypothesis or theory is developed?
o What is the theory tested? If so, how? Is it predictive or verifiable in any way? How?
o What conclusions are drawn?
3. In each case consider how well or strongly the evidence supports the hypothesis. In both cases is
there evidence that might have been overlooked or that might run counter to the conclusions
drawn?
E.O.Wilson
Discussion Questions
1. How did Wilson’s experimental framework change? Does the change carry with it any scientific
implications? When does an experiment become unethical? Under what conditions is it justifiable?
Think of some examples to support both points of view.
a. Between them [the two hurricanes] they wiped the vegetation off the smallest sandy
islands, as I had hoped. By the time, however, I had changed my plan and advanced to a
bolder scheme. Why be confined to the haphazard distribution of a few remote keys?
b. The executives of the first two I called answered with rich southern accents and clearly
thought I was either joking or crazy. On the third try, I got Steven Tendrich, vice
president of National Exterminators, Inc. He had northern accent, which gave me hope.
2. Examine Wilson’s attitude toward the life forms (arthropods) on the islet. Does it strike you as
being somewhat callous or indifferent?
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We would ourselves eliminate by hand the tree snails and other larger animals that might
be resistant to the chemical.
b. They [the islets] harbored species or races no different from those abounding elsewhere.
c. The experiment, Simberloff and I argued, might provide information that would help
guide future park management policy. Our earnestness proved persuasive, and we never
faced opposition from government officials or the public.
Why does Wilson argue that the public would not be sympathetic to what they were trying to do?
Do you think that the population of 1999 would be more understanding and supportive?
a. A dozen helicopter rides would have paid for our entire project. But not one citizen in a
hundred would have understood what we were trying to do. It was a time of massive
imbalance in favor of military security over environmental security.
Consider Wilson’s motivation for conducting the experiment and the reason he chose the Florida
Keys as the site of the experiment.
a. Succeed or fail, I would stay close to Harvard and my family.
b. We were both a little crazy in those days.
c. I was as content as Darwin on the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle.
d. I did not return to the Florida Keys, and my dream of converting them into a natural
laboratory languished. A new possibility—a different opening to the future—had seized
my imagination. I wanted to make sociobiology into a science, one that ranged from ants
to chimpanzees.
Although Lignumvitae Key does not directly enter into play in the experiment, it adds a poignant
note to the discussion. What irony do we find in reference to this well-preserved, “prehistorical”
ecosystem?
a. Their [the owners’] spokesman, a septuagenarian Miami dentist, was gleeful that
conservationists had entered the bidding. [...] He would love to see his beautiful island
saved in its natural state, he claimed, but if we did not act soon the land would go to
developers.
Did the experiment lead to any significant or revealing conclusions?
a. The closest island, as expected, had the largest number of species before fumigation,
forty-three to be exact, and it regained approximately that number within the year.
b. The most distant island, El, had the smallest number, twenty-six, and climbed back close
to that after defaunation.
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