Darwin's Dystopia : Darwinism and Hitler's Eugenics Program

tothesource.org ^ | May 8, 2008 | Dr. Benjamin Wiker

[shineon]

You’re a tease. Lol

Are you with me Dr?

[shineon]

Thanks for the chuckle.

[ofwaihhbtn]

Your ingenious, overwhelmingly clever remarks have simply got the best of me. I surrender. I can wait no longer for you to provide a real thought for me to consider. Maybe tomorrow there will be an opponent that has something to say.

[Ethan Clive Osgoode]

"life unworthy of life" is not a Darwinist concept, and is in fact completely alien to Darwinist thinking.

Here's a nice bit of poetry by Darwin Medalist Karl Pearson:

"The garden of humanity is very full of weeds, nurture will never transform them into flowers; the eugenist calls upon the rulers of mankind to see that there shall be space in the garden, freed of weeds, for individuals and races of finer growth to develop with the full bloom possible to their species."

[dr_lew]

Are you with me Dr?

I always say, I have a heart as big as the galaxy.

[dr_lew]

This is a citation that gives some pause, it has to be admitted.

Note though, that he won the Darwin medal ( in 1898 !) “For his work on the quantitative treatment of biological problems.”

On presumes that this related to his role in the foundation of modern statistical methods; “Pearson’s thinking underpins many of the ‘classical’ statistical methods which are in common use today.” So are we to renounce “Pearson’s Chi-squared test” ?

Once again we are caught up in the question of “the times”. The wikipedia biography cites Pearson’s commitment to idealism: “There are many signs,” he wrote, “that a sound idealism is surely replacing, as a basis for natural philosophy, the crude materialism of the older physicists.”

Aha! I bet you thought materialism was the enemy!

I’ve come across “idealism” before. It was popular in England in the 1930’s, and is one of those things that was not much spoken of after the war.

[Ethan Clive Osgoode]

This is a citation that gives some pause, it has to be admitted.

The citations in post 54 should give pause also, though they address a different comment.

So are we to renounce “Pearson’s Chi-squared test” ?

Which one of these relationships are not like the other?

1. Pearson wore shoes ~ Pearson was a eugenist.

2. Pearson developed the chi squared test ~ Pearson was a eugenist.

3. Pearson was a Darwinian ~ Pearson was a eugenist.

Aha! I bet you thought materialism was the enemy!

There are many enemies of mankind, as you already know.

Huxley did not consider himself a materialist, even though everything he wrote gave the impression that he was. Pearson's philosophic views are somewhat clouded by a strong adherence to scientific irrationalism. Whatever it is that they meant by 'idealism' or 'not a materialist', it boils down to raving atheism and very little else.

If you want to know more about Pearson's philosophic views, download his book Ethic of Freethought from my FR page.

[dr_lew]

3. Pearson was a Darwinian ~ Pearson was a eugenist.

Here, you lie, excuse me don't excuse me you're making the doctor happy unhappy.

Pearson received the Darwin Medal, is what you averred. Why did you mention this? Why do you transmogrify it into "Pearson was a Darwinian?"

[wendy1946]

Evolution is garbage science and, as garbage science goes, a spectacularly dangerous and pernicious variety with two world wars and a couple of hundred million dead bodies lying around on account of it. The out of control arms races and isms which brought those wars and the massacres associated with communism and naziism about all began with the idea of a peson viewing his neighbor as a meat byproduct of random events rather than as a fellow child of God.

[dr_lew]

Whatever it is that they meant by 'idealism' or 'not a materialist', it boils down to raving atheism and very little else.

Here is know-nothingism at its finest. What about raving theism? Eh? What about that?

[dr_lew]

The out of control arms races and isms which brought those wars and the massacres associated with communism and naziism about all began with the idea of a peson viewing his neighbor as a meat byproduct of random events rather than as a fellow child of God.

This is just not true. Has it ever occurred to you that meat byproducts might look upon their fellow meat bypoducts with great affection? Or that children of God might look upon their fellow children of God with great disapprobation? It's all much of muchness, don't you know. It's elementary.

[Ethan Clive Osgoode]

Here is know-nothingism at its finest

What is there to know about raving atheism? If you've heard one raving atheist you've heard them all.

[mccainvoterinobamaville]

Thanks for the input on this.

Also Darwin is the ultimate scientific hero? His theories did nothing to really help humanity.

I consider the tireless researchers who find cures for diseases to be heroes.

[Oztrich Boy]

And why should you have this urge?

10 miilion years of evolution selecting for social cooperation. Much more reliable than serving a "greater good", be it Aryan Destiny or The Will of God

[Oztrich Boy]

Now look up social darwinism on wikipedia. You'll be surprised.

What a stupid suggestion. Don't you know wikipedia is controlled by "lieberuls" and is mocked and derided by True Conserbatives (except when it agrees with them)?

[SeekAndFind]

1. Pearson wore shoes ~ Pearson was a eugenist.

2. Pearson developed the chi squared test ~ Pearson was a eugenist.

3. Pearson was a Darwinian ~ Pearson was a eugenist.



What if we had this -- Pearson was an avid student of Darwinism, believed in it and applied its principles to eugenics. Can't we conclude that that his belief in and application of Darwinism justified his application of Eugenics ?

[ketsu]

Thanks for the input on this.

Also Darwin is the ultimate scientific hero? His theories did nothing to really help humanity.

I consider the tireless researchers who find cures for diseases to be heroes.

Darwin's work has had *amazing* impact across a huge variety of fields. Including oddly enough, economics. It's really bizarre, liberals have embraced the social aspects of darwin's work(reciprocal altruism especially) while conservatives have embraced the economic aspects(economic darwinism). Few thinkers have altered the course of western thought nearly as much as Darwin.

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

Also evolution and physics are more similar than you think. There are plenty of physical models like gravitation, where *we have no idea* why they work like they do. We just know that we can observe them.

Evolution is no different. We can observe the outcomes of evolution(fossils of extinct species, similarities of DNA in related species etc...) and even limited examples of speciation(drosophila, green warblers and salamanders).

Please do a thorough study of the concepts of extrapolation, interpolation and observation.

You have been doing one claiming you're doing another and it's not science.

[ketsu]

Evolution is garbage science and, as garbage science goes, a spectacularly dangerous and pernicious variety with two world wars and a couple of hundred million dead bodies lying around on account of it. The out of control arms races and isms which brought those wars and the massacres associated with communism and naziism about all began with the idea of a peson viewing his neighbor as a meat byproduct of random events rather than as a fellow child of God.

"Children of God" had been murdering each other for ages(remember the pope wars? To be accused of "popery" in England was a death sentence). Industrialization and the rationalization of human government were the cause of the suffering of the 20th century. One thing that people forget is that many of the totalitarian monsters of the 20th century(Mao, Stalin and Hitler) had huge beneficial effects on the standards of living of their respective societies. Life expectancy and standards of living in China(even counting the starvation in Mao's little "experiments") skyrocketed.

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

The existence of a bona fide skeletal remain does not prove its ‘evolutionary’ heritage or age. It provides a platform on which, however, tests can be made although DNA may be similar in very dissimilar creatures.

In the bigger picture, let the Theory be put to the test, if it proves true, many bona fide skeletal remains will be found, including transitionals, so no fear, right? Truth will out. Meanwhile teach both origin theories side-by-side, as theories. Be scientifically and intellectually rigorous, precise and honest.

Put the whole theory and your premises to the test. Don’t be, as you say, easy.