Voyage Of Discovery

February 12, 2009 8:43 AM

30 years ago the BBC celebrated the anniversary of Charles Darwin with the drama series The Voyage of Charles Darwin depicting his life. The whole thing is now on Youtube. )

This year we had Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life. (YouTube: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

posted by fearfulsymmetry (7 comments total)

Open Darwin thread below?
posted by fixedgear at 9:39 AM on February 12

30 years ago. Dear god.
posted by mwhybark at 10:05 AM on February 12

Open Darwin thread below?

This thread shows a slight genetic mutation from the first (excessive YouTubing) that may prove an advantageous adaptation for its higher position on the front page.
posted by terranova at 10:36 AM on February 12

Yet only 39% of Americans believe in evolution.
posted by caddis at 11:29 AM on February 12

To be fair, 36% thought the call was another second notice that the factory warranty on your vehicle is expiring and said whatever was necessary for the call to end.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:33 PM on February 12

A little known fact, it's not actually a requirement that daily someone on MeFi point out that "only x percent of Americans believe in evolution."

Yes, it's true, this poll found only 39% did; but then, 36% sort of shrugged their shoulders, saying, one supposes, "I dunno." I suspect that's probably the same 36% of people who couldn't find the area of a circle without Googling the formula, or write a coherent persuasive essay, or interpret some basic statistical data.

And as central as evolution is to biology, an understanding of it doesn't equate to being a decent human being. A grasp of science isn't not a hedge against becoming an ideologue, a thug, or just a garden variety jerk.

Back to my initial thought: The not-believing-evolution theme treads close to Godwinizing discourse. And you know who else didn't believe in...
posted by slab_lizard at 2:41 PM on February 12

thanks, totally awesome.
posted by Substrata at 4:11 PM on February 12