Evolution is a fact. It is the best explanation of what is known from observations. It's a theory as powerful as the theory of gravity.
Donald JohansonRead
When I realized, in 1978, that Lucy did represent a new species of human ancestor, and that I had an opportunity to name this new species, I realized this was a revolutionary step in understanding human origins.
Interpretation
This quote reflects a pivotal moment in the understanding of human evolution through the discovery of a new species.
Donald Johanson expresses the profound realization he experienced when he identified Lucy as a new species of human ancestor. This discovery was not only groundbreaking in the field of paleoanthropology, but it also contributed significantly to the broader understanding of human origins, highlighting the importance of scientific inquiry and the impact of such revelations on our knowledge of humanity's evolutionary past.
In practice
In a lecture about human evolution, I would refer to this quote to emphasize the importance of breakthroughs in science.
Evolution is a fact. It is the best explanation of what is known from observations. It's a theory as powerful as the theory of gravity.
Where we are going as a species is a big question. Human evolution certainly hasn't stopped. Every time individuals produce a new zygote, there's a reshuffling and recombination of genes. And we don't know where all of that is going to take us.
And what I wanted to do was, I wanted to explore problems and areas where we didn't have answers. In fact, where we didn't even know the right questions to ask.
I think that many of my ideas are correct, but I'll bet you, before my death other discoveries will be made that will prompt me to alter various ideas I have about human evolution.
Evolutionary plasticity can be purchased only at the ruthlessly dear price of continuously sacrificing some individuals to death from unfavourable mutations. Bemoaning this imperfection of nature has, however, no place in a scientific treatment of this subject.
Science is an enterprise that should be cherished as an activity of the free human mind. Because it transforms who we are, how we live, and it gives us an understanding of our place in the universe.
The faster you go, the shorter you are.
Science and technology have freed humanity from many burdens and given us this new perspective and great power. This power can be used for the good of all. If wisdom governs our actions; but if the world is mad or foolish, it can destroy itself just when great advances and triumphs are almost without its grasp.
Science not only purifies the religious impulse of the dross of its anthropomorphism but also contributes to a religious spiritualization of our understanding of life.
The brain has this amazing level of almost fractal complexity to it. When you start looking at any part of it in detail, you realize that it's much more complex than you thought.
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