The Darwinian Revolution answered a lot of questions about the origins of our species. Through an ongoing process of natural selection, species evolve into more advanced states. All animals, humans included, are at the whim of this process. Though unseen, adaptation and natural selection occur throughout the world in order to create the state of society. There has been complicated questions and consequences of this radical new worldview. Professor Stone criticized some of these consequences. First, Darwinism equates evolution with progress. The notion that progress is linear and forward moving causes people to assume that the society we live in is the best possible state. The kind of typological thinking at work here distracts modern man from historical memory: the things we can learn from the past. We are the idealized type. The end or ultimate level of evolution. This kind of thinking ignores or glorifies our humble origins in order to show progression of man: we were apes and now we are humans. I think this ignores the creative destruction brought on the world: 99% of species that have ever existed are now extinct. This reasoning has caused economists to validate a notion of creative destruction that has been detrimental to our society: the notion that companies, jobs, and people must be destroyed in the name of progress. To make space for new ideas and companies, old ones must die. Regardless of whether or not you agree with Darwin or Professor Stone, the machinations of evolutionary progress continue even in modern man.
However, societies and nations have progressed to the point where the weak no longer die. We have elevated above the state of nature in order to create government and institutions that negate the most destructive aspects of the state of nature. Darwin’s ideas have been less powerful in human societies precisely for this reason: the rate of change is much less now that it has ever been in human societies because the level of danger has decreased. Now, even the most vulnerable of people have the ability to survive due to the abundance of food, money, and laws. I think we can consider this progress. We have allowed for differences between people, even protecting them in our institutions through laws for the weak, disabled, marginalized. I think this can be used as evidence against Professor Stone’s contention that the typographical notions of evolution have necessitated types and also perfect types. Humans will not be the last forms of evolution but we have gained many tools in which to protect our own species from extinction. With that, we have also created the tools of our own destruction through nuclear weapons and warfare: evidence of our humble warlike tribal origins, no doubt.