At War With the Universe

After reading Kim Sterelney's mind-boggling essay, 'What is Evolvability?', this morning I wrote out this statement. I haven't edited it, but that is one of the things this blog is for -- an online notebook.

"The conservative mind is at war with the universe. Five centuries of science tell us that the universe is not fixed, but that it changes. The only life forms that survive change are those that adapt to change. Adaptability equals survival. And adaptability is the capacity to change. Fundamentalists and conservatives have the same essential message: that we must return to original principles if we are to survive. But the fossil and genetic records show us that few life forms return to original schemas. More often, they change with changes in their selective environments. To align with the essentially changing nature of the universe, we must embrace the capacity to change. But change is antithetical to the conservative mind. Thus the conservative mind, which seeks solutions in past conditions, is, ultimately, suicidal. This is not politics, but a basic biology lesson."

(c) Cameron M. Smith, 2012