The way to understand how different species evolved is to think about the niches that they fill in an ecosystem - basically, how they make a living.
Interpretation
Species evolution is shaped by their roles within ecosystems and how they survive.
In this quote, Steven Pinker emphasizes that to grasp the process of evolution among various species, one must consider the specific roles or 'niches' they occupy within their ecosystems. Understanding how species adapt and thrive based on their ecological functions provides insight into the broader narrative of evolution, illustrating the interconnectedness of life forms and their environments.
In practice
In a biology class discussing evolution and ecosystems, this quote can help illustrate the concept of niches.
The foundation of individual rights is the assumption that people have wants and needs and are authorities on what those wants and needs are. If people's stated desires were just some kind of erasable inscription or reprogrammable brainwashing, any atrocity could be justified.
The linguistic clumsiness of tourists and students might be the price we pay for the linguistic genius we displayed as babies, just as the decrepitude of age in the price we pay for the vigor of youth.
If we are not to abandon values such as peace and equality, or our commitments to science and truth, then we must pry these values away from claims about our psychological makeup that are vulnerable to being proven false.
We adults protect ourselves with laws, police, workplace regulations and social norms and there is no conceivable reason why children should be left more vulnerable, other that laziness or callousness in considering what life is like from their point of view.
The idea that children are passive repositories to be shaped by their parents has been massively overstated. A child's peer group is a far greater determinant of its development and achievements than parental aspiration.
Reason is non-negotiable. Try to argue against it, or to exclude it from some realm of knowledge, and you've already lost the argument, because you're using reason to make your case. ... We don't "believe" in reason.
Radio has no future." "X-rays are clearly a hoax". "The aeroplane is scientifically impossible.
I was taught over and over again that the accumulation of random mutations led to evolutionary change - led to new species. I believed it until I looked for evidence.
What we observe as material bodies and forces are nothing but shapes and variations in the structure of space.
We know that efficiency and effectiveness are increased when you're getting sufficient sleep, and it will take you longer to do the same thing on an underslept brain, which means you end up having to stay awake longer. So goes the vicious cycle.
What are the chances that we will one day discover that DNA has absolutely nothing to do with inheritance? They are effectively zero.
The universe is a symphony of strings, and the mind of God that Einstein eloquently wrote about for thirty years would be cosmic music resonating through eleven-dimensional hyper space.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.