EVOLUTIONISM AND MANS HOPE 



Two world wars and the blighted hopes of the Russian revo- 

 lution left only doctrinaire Marxists still convinced that progress 

 is "scientifically" inevitable, that it will have its ultimate fulfill- 

 ment in a communist paradise, and that this kind of paradise 

 will be a desirable place to find oneself in. To everybody else 

 recent history is proof that progress is not at all inevitable and 

 not a necessary part of nature. It occurs only as an outcome of 

 effort and ordeal, of creative inspiration, favorable circumstances, 

 and plain luck. 



2. Utilitarian Character of Evolution 



Our planet offers a great variety of opportunities for different 

 modes of living. To adopt new ways of life, organisms must 

 undergo evolutionary changes. Aquatic animals have in several 

 lineages given rise to descendants living on land, as in the case 

 of higher vertebrates evolving from fish-like ancestors. Some 

 terrestial animals turned aquatic again, as with the whales, whose 

 ancestors were land-dwelling mammals. Living on land is ob- 

 viously not inherently better or more desirable than living in 

 water, or vice versa. Fishes are still well off in water; so were 

 the whales until men started to hunt for them, and so are many 

 land animals. Each form of life is at least tolerably competent 

 in its own sphere. However, by changing and becoming adapted 

 to a variety of modes of living, organisms become able to exploit 

 many more opportunities for life than any single organism could 

 be competent to utilize. Thus life expands and masters the 

 earth. 



About a million years ago, at the beginning of the Ice Age or 

 perhaps at the close of the Tertiary, there appeared a biological 

 species in which biological evolution has transcended itself. This 

 species, man, differs from others by its possession of a body of 

 learned tradition called culture. All organisms inherit the struc- 

 ture and functions of their bodies by way of biological heredity. 

 So does man; but he acquires also a store of knowledge, belief, 

 and ways of behavior by learning and education. Biological 

 heredity is transmitted through the sex cells; culture is passed 

 by way of language; the genes only in the direct line of descent; 

 culture between members of a society who may or may not be 

 biological relatives. 



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