Evolution is a fact. It is the best explanation of what is known from observations. It's a theory as powerful as the theory of gravity.
Donald JohansonRead
Where we are going as a species is a big question. Human evolution certainly hasn't stopped. Every time individuals produce a new zygote, there's a reshuffling and recombination of genes. And we don't know where all of that is going to take us.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the uncertain future of human evolution and the ongoing changes in our species.
Donald Johanson's quote underscores the dynamic nature of human evolution, suggesting that as individuals reproduce, the genetic reshuffling that occurs plays a significant role in shaping the future of humanity. It emphasizes the complexity and unpredictability of our evolutionary journey, indicating that despite our advancements, we remain deeply connected to the biological processes that continue to drive our development as a species.
In practice
During a discussion on genetic research, this quote can highlight the unpredictable nature of human evolution.
Evolution is a fact. It is the best explanation of what is known from observations. It's a theory as powerful as the theory of gravity.
When I realized, in 1978, that Lucy did represent a new species of human ancestor, and that I had an opportunity to name this new species, I realized this was a revolutionary step in understanding human origins.
And what I wanted to do was, I wanted to explore problems and areas where we didn't have answers. In fact, where we didn't even know the right questions to ask.
I think that many of my ideas are correct, but I'll bet you, before my death other discoveries will be made that will prompt me to alter various ideas I have about human evolution.
The answer is never the answer. What's really interesting is the mystery. If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you'll always be seeking. I've never seen anybody really find the answer, but they think they have. So they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer.
Human beings are ultimately nothing but carriers-passageways- for genes. They ride us into the ground like racehorses from generation to generation. Genes don't think about what constitutes good or evil. They don't care whether we are happy or unhappy. We're just means to an end for them. The only thing they think about is what is most efficient for them.
There are reveries so deep, reveries which help us descend so deeply within ourselves that they rid us of our history. They liberate us from our name. These solitudes of today return us to the original solitudes.
Tonight, the moon came out, it was nearly full._x000D_ _x000D_ Way down here on earth, I could feel it's pull._x000D_ _x000D_ The weight of gravity or just the lure of life,_x000D_ _x000D_ Made me want to leave my only home tonight._x000D_ _x000D_ _x000D_ I'm just wondering how we know where we belong_x000D_ _x000D_ Is it in the arc of the moon, leaving shadows on the lawn_x000D_ _x000D_ In the path of fireflies and a single bird at dawn_x000D_ _x000D_ Singing in between here and gone
we follow One who stood and wept at the grave of Lazarus-not surely, because He was grieved that Mary and Martha wept, and sorrowed for their lack of faith (though some thus interpret) but because death, the punishment of sin, is even more horrible in his eyes than in ours.
There's another disadvantage to the use of the flashlight: like many other mechanical gadgets it tends to separate a man from the world around him. If I switch it on my eyes adapt to it and I can see only the small pool of light it makes in front of me; I am isolated. Leaving the flashlight in my pocket where it belongs, I remain a part of the environment I walk through and my vision though limited has no sharp or definite boundary.
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