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To: Scully;BMCDA
"Toby Lester, the author of "Oh, Gods!" in the February Atlantic, talks about the Darwinian way in which religions evolve and mutate."

Actually, the evolution of human culture and institutions could more appropriately described as Lamarckian.

Behavior and belief patterns can change within a human lifetime in response to changing conditions. They are more like Lamarck's giraffe that stretched his neck to get the higher leaves -- and (so Lamarck believed -erroneously) had offspring with longer necks because of the behavior within a lifetime.

The deeply held beliefs that are held within the human psyche can change in response to new knowledge than alters belief-based culture. Galileo, Darwin himself, Einstein...all changed these institutions, each within a human lifetime.

While human biological mutation and selection certainly follows Darwinian processes, changes in religions and culture are more Lamarckian.

5 posted on 04/08/2002 6:40:53 PM PDT by edwin hubble
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To: edwin hubble
re-posting to correct last sentence: (proofreading)

While human biological mutation and selection certainly follow Darwinian processes, changes in religions and culture are more Lamarckian.

6 posted on 04/08/2002 6:46:50 PM PDT by edwin hubble
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To: edwin hubble
changes in religions and culture are more Lamarckian

And the process seems to be accelerating. Sadly though, many people seem to be trying on one "religion" after another without much thought or investigation.

7 posted on 04/08/2002 6:47:51 PM PDT by Scully
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To: edwin hubble
That's certainly true though sometimes a new idea (whatever its nature) only convinces the younger generations and so it spreads over time as the older generations die out.
Planck once said: "A scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it". And I think this also applies to religions (and of course to other memes as well).
9 posted on 04/08/2002 7:18:31 PM PDT by BMCDA
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