Fascinating NRO piece from John Derbyshire. Using snobbery and Doonesbury as a touchstone the Derb goes on to discuss evolution. He believes that evolution in its basic form is a valid theory that seems to comport with reality as we know it. He admits to only having a basic familiarity with the details, however, and doesn’t really care to learn more about the technicallities:
The idea that species evolved and differentiated across vast eons of time by means of natural selection seems to be sensible and probable, and to fit with such facts as I know of. I can’t pretend to understand the inner mechanics of that process. Neither did Charles Darwin so pretend: as the philosopher David Stove has pointed out, Darwin died as ignorant of genetics as was Julius Caesar. Darwin’s theory offers a hypothesis to explain certain observed facts.
What he objects too is evolution as a cultural litmus test:
Ah, evolution! The touchstone of redneck religiosity! The ultimate litmus test separating the benighted from the enlightened, the foolish from the wise, the sheep from the wise shepherds — to put it in Leninist terms, the Whom from the Who! Do you believe in the theory of evolution? No? Then you shall be bound hand and foot and cast into outer darkness, into the place of wailing and gnashing of teeth! Don’t you know that only hicks and rubes and knuckle-dragging primitives deny the truth of evolution? Haven’t you seen Inherit the Wind? What brand of tobacco do you chew, in your shabby trailer parked back there in the hollow?
Instead, he often finds that decent, intelligent, hardworking folk don’t believe in evolution. Given the relative unimportance of evolution in our daily lives he prefers creationists over snobby evolutionists. Noting Doonesbury’s mocking of President Bush for not believing in evolution, Derb makes clear his preferences:
Invited to choose between a president who is (a) a patriotic family man of character and ability who believes the universe was created on a Friday afternoon in 4,004 B.C. with all biological species instantly represented, or (b) an amoral hedonist and philanderer who “loathes the military” but who believes in the evolution of species via natural selection across hundreds of millions of years, which would I choose? Are you kidding?
I must say I find this whole discussion fascinating. I often find both of the hardcore sides rather annoying. The people Derb is pointing out, those that assume belief in evolution is neccesary to membership in civilization are some of the most narrow minded, scientistic, and snobby people on earth. They can’t even conceptualize that the world of science today might not be the final truth. Equally troublesome are those hardcore creationists who deny every tiny piece of biology or science that might just help evolutionary theory. They will grasp at any sign, no matter how unscientific or fishy, that undermines evolution. They create gigantic conspiracy theories about how evolution is pattently false and how it is being imposed on us by a small group of atheistic scientists. These folks generally equate a belief in evolution as a ticket to hell.
I just like to discuss issues and play devils advocate. I really don’t have the scientific mind or knowledge to debunk evolution. I understand that evolution is the mental universe of todays science and that it simply can’t be jettisoned totally without a replacement concept. But I also know that for many evolution is sacrosanct in ways beyond scientific foundation and that many atheists cling to evolution as proof that we don’t need God in much the same way as religous folk deny evolution because it threatens their faith. I certainly do not believe that evolution is contradictory to scripture or that it removes God from the picture. I also feel that there are criticisms of evolution that desrve a hearing and that science as a worldview creeps into education way to often.
I guess in the end I am in a similar position to Derb. Anyone obsessed with evolution one way or the other is probable not healthy (unless that is your profession). In this case ignorance really can be bliss.
