Sunday is Darwin Day. How Will You Celebrate It?

[mick063]

21. I will watch a great documentory.

Carl Sagan's Cosmos
Episode 2 ; "One Voice in the Cosmic Fugue" (available on Netflix)

Sagan discusses the story of the Heike crab and artificial selection of crabs resembling samurai warriors, as an opening into a larger discussion of evolution through natural selection (and the pitfalls of the theory of intelligent design). Among the topics are the development of life on the Cosmic Calendar and the Cambrian explosion; the function of DNA in growth; genetic replication, repairs, and mutation; the common biochemistry of terrestrial organisms; the creation of the molecules of life in the Miller-Urey experiment; and speculation on alien life (such as life in Jupiter's clouds). In the Cosmos Update ten years later, Sagan remarks on RNA also controlling chemical reactions and reproducing itself and the different roles of comets (potentially carrying organic molecules or causing the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event).

I will do this to remind myself that the typical American was much more intelligent in 1980 as people like Carl Sagan were embraced. The eventual GOP nominee will vehemently disagree with the late, great Carl Sagan and 40% of America will as well.

Edit: A great book by Sagan titled "Brocca's Brain" is a very good read as well.

The final section of the book is entitled, "Ultimate Questions." Sagan is famous for his quote about God in this part:

“ My deeply held belief is that if a god of anything like the traditional sort exists, our curiosity and intelligence were provided by such a god...on the other hand if such a god does not exist then our curiosity and intelligence are the essential tools for survival. In either case the enterprise of knowledge is essential for the welfare of the human species.