...Darwin’s Influence on Discrimination Many regard Charles Darwin as the Father of Evolution, a scientific breakthrough that is considered one of the greatest accomplishments in science. Little does the general public consider the social effects that his contributions made on racism, as well as sexism, not only in his lifetime, but also for the generations following his research. His recognition in one area of study automatically made him a voice that echoed for centuries against women’s suffrage, pro-slavery, and influenced Hitler’s ideology. Apart from his genetic research and theories of evolution, Darwin was not afraid to compare the human race to that of other animals. This analogy caused a lot of the discrimination that he blatantly labeled as scientific fact. In the Descent of Man, “Darwin noted that the inheritance of special tastes and habits, general intelligence, courage, good and bad temper, and so on is evident in dogs and other domestic animals, and that the same pattern is seen in almost every human family” (Paul, 226). Darwin was not afraid to make non-scientific comparisons between the human race and other animals. Although many of Darwin’s findings are scientifically rational, and others simply deny his theories because of their religious faiths, it is difficult to ignore the consequences of his “Origins of Species” or “The Descent of Man” writings. Although Darwin wrote that all men shared a common descent, he used societal observations...
Words: 2044 - Pages: 9
... pap32045_ch02_022-053.indd Page 23 8/6/10 9:38 AM user-f469 /Volumes/201/MHSF210/pap32045_disk1of1/pap32045_pagefiles A Child’s World: How We Discover It There is one thing even more vital to science than intelligent methods; and that is,the sincere desire to find out the truth, whatever it may be. —Charles Sanders Peirce, Collected Papers, vol. 5 Did You Know . . . Basic Theoretical Issues Issue 1: Is Development Active or Reactive? Issue 2: Is Development Continuous or Discontinuous? Theoretical Perspectives * Theories are never “set in stone”; they are always open to change as a result of new findings? * Children shape their world as it shapes them? * Cross-cultural research enables us to determine which aspects of development are universal and which are culturally influenced? * An experiment is the most definitive way to demonstrate that one event causes another? * The results of laboratory experiments may be less applicable to real life than experiments carried out in a home, school, or public setting? These are just a few of the interesting and important topics we will cover in this chapter. Here, we present an overview both of major theories of human development and of research methods used to study it. In the first part of the chapter, we explore major issues and theoretical perspectives that underlie much research in child development. In the remainder of the chapter, we look at how researchers gather and assess information so that, as...
Words: 21135 - Pages: 85
...RICHARD DAWKINS-The Selfish Gene. Ebook v1.0. 'Who should read this book? Everyone interested in the universe and their place in it.' Jeffrey R. Baylis, Animal Behaviour Our genes made us. We animals exist for their preservation and are nothing more than their throwaway survival machines. The world of the selfish gene is one of savage competition, ruthless exploitation, and deceit. But what of the acts of apparent altruism found in nature-the bees who commit suicide when they sting to protect the hive, or the birds who risk their lives to warn the flock of an approaching hawk? Do they contravene the fundamental law of gene selfishness? By no means: Dawkins shows that the selfish gene is also the subtle gene. And he holds out the hope that our species-alone on earth-has the power to rebel against the designs of the selfish gene. This book is a call to arms. It is both manual and manifesto, and it grips like a thriller. The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins's brilliant first book and still his most famous, is an international bestseller in thirteen languages. For this new edition there are two major new chapters. 'learned, witty, and very well written...exhilaratingly good.' Sir Peter Medawar, Spectator Richard Dawkins is a Lecturer in Zoology at Oxford University and a Fellow of Mew College, and the author of The Blind Watchmaker. Preface to 1976 edition This book should be read almost as though it were science fiction. It is designed to appeal to the imagination. But it is not science...
Words: 118698 - Pages: 475
...the organizing concepts for this project. Because these terms enjoy wide usage in contemporary sociology and are general and inclusive, they seem preferable to more specific terms such as "evolution" "progress," "differentiation," or even "development," many of which evoke more specific mechanisms, processes, and directions of change. Likewise, we have excluded historically specific terms such as "late capitalism" and "industrial society" even though these concepts figure prominently in many of the contributions to this volume. The conference strategy called for a general statement of a metaframework for the study of social change within which a variety of more specific theories could be identified. 2. Theories of Social Change Change is such an evident feature of social reality that any social-scientific theory, whatever its conceptual starting point, must sooner or later address it. At the same time it is essential to note that the ways social change has been identified have varied greatly in the history of thought. Furthermore, conceptions of change appear to have mirrored the historical ―2― realities of different epochs in large degree. In his essay...
Words: 171529 - Pages: 687
