Species evolve exactly as if they were adapting as best they could to a changing world, and not at all as if they were moving toward a set goal.
George Gaylord SimpsonRead
If a sect does officially insist that its structure of belief demands that evolution be false, then no compromise is possible. An honest and competent biology teacher can only conclude that the sect's beliefs are wrong and that its religion is a false one.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the conflict between certain religious beliefs and the scientific understanding of evolution, stating that a biology teacher must uphold scientific integrity.
George Gaylord Simpson's quote reflects the tension between certain religious sects that reject the theory of evolution and the scientific community, particularly in the field of biology. By asserting that a biology teacher must regard the sect's beliefs as incorrect if they deny evolution, Simpson underscores the importance of scientific truth over dogmatic belief, highlighting the incompatibility of faith-based assertions that contradict established scientific understanding.
Themes
EvolutionScienceReligionBeliefBiology
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate on science education, one might cite this quote to argue against teaching religious dogma in biology classes.
More from George Gaylord Simpson
All quotes →Now we do have many examples of transitional sequences.
George Gaylord SimpsonRead
He is a state of matter, a form of life, a sort of animal, and a species of the Order Primates, akin nearly or remotely to all of life and indeed to all that is material.
George Gaylord SimpsonRead
Man is the result of a purposeless and materialistic process that did not have him in mind. He was not planned. He is a state of matter, a form of life, a sort of animal, and a species of the Order Primates, akin nearly or remotely to all of life and indeed to all that is material.
George Gaylord SimpsonRead
Man is the result of a purposeless and natural process that did not have him in mind
George Gaylord SimpsonRead
To put it crudely but graphically, the monkey who did not have a realistic perception of the tree branch he jumped for was soon a dead monkey-and therefore did not become one of our ancestors.
George Gaylord SimpsonRead
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