Charles Darwin's Ideas

Charles Darwin’s Ideas After reading the book “Origin of Species” by Charles Darwin, I would place Darwin halfway between “creative genius” and “spin doctor” if there was a spectrum. The way he thinks and examines a theory was really outstanding, even the extraneous amount of research he has accomplished was there to back his theories up. Reading the book made me realized that he did “borrow” the ideas from other people, such as Charles Lyell, Jean-Baptist Lamarck, William Paley and Thomas Malthus. Charles Darwin used their ideas to formulate another theory based on that. I wouldn’t personally say that he stole their ideas completely, because Darwin did conduct his own experiments to prove his new theory. Several ideas that Darwin “borrowed” included the struggle for existence, principle of uniformity, organic evolution, the caloric theory and the adaptation theory. Darwin agreed with some of the ideas, but he also gave the others a new spin and made it his own. The idea of the struggle for existence came from Charles Lyell and Thomas Malthus; it was not Charles Darwin’s original thesis and he never claimed it as his own. In fact, he credited Malthus in the “Origin of Species” for this idea. Instead of claiming it as his own, he highlighted the others’ work that helped him formulate his theory. Lyell and Malthus thought that the struggle for existence was a force in nature that kept nature in balance. The drive to continue living, changed the organism to shape it’s characteristics to survive in the future. Darwin believes that it a creative force that created a new life. He figured that fitter organisms would most likely survive and reproduce, while the less fit would struggle for survival. In his book, he related this theory onto why some species of plants and animals become extinct and why others survive. Another theory that Darwin borrowed was the principle of uniformity from Charles Lyell. Lyell used the geological principle which stated that the present is the key to the past, meaning the geological events now could be explained from the past, and that nature is trying to stay the same and will not undergo any changes. Darwin like the idea of the geological principle, however, he disagreed with the second statement. He believes that nature isn’t staying the same, it is changing. In Chapter 9 of “Origin of Species”, he gave us his geological observations that support his theory of how nature is not changing: “our not finding in the successive formations infinitely numerous transitional links between the many species which now exist or have existed” and “the almost entire absence, as at present known, of fossiliferous formations beneath the Silurian strata”. Charles Darwin used two of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck: the Organic Evolution and the Caloric theory. In Organic Evolution, Lamarck believed that it always stays in order; it is programmed, and follows the same track. He used the caloric theory to explain why giraffes have long necks. Darwin on the other hand disagreed and said that it is not programmed; complexity is going towards adaptation. He used variation to explain why giraffes have long necks. Lamarck’s most famous explanation when it comes to evolution is with the characteristics of giraffes. He suggested that giraffes started stretching their neck to reach the leaves of taller plants. This practice continued on for generation until they developed longer necks. This trait has then been passed on from generation to generation, resulting in long-necked giraffes. This supported his belief that any organ that is put into continuous use will develop into something better. Darwin, however, had a different view. Just like Lamarck, he believed all giraffes used to have short necks. He also believed that there were some with longer necks. Overtime, the short-necked giraffes began to die off due to the lack of food. The giraffes stripped the lower branches, leaving the only available leaves that were higher up. Eventually, only long-necked giraffes were able to eat and survive. He called this theory Variations. He never used the term “evolution” until the end of the book. In fact, it is the very last word of his book. Darwin’s definition of variation was to help an animal to adjust better to its environment for a better chance of survival. And lastly, Darwin also had his own theory about adaptation, with the help of William Paley’s theory. Paley thought organisms are able to connect with their environment. He believed that adaptation is designed by a divine designer. There is someone or something, which has the greater power to change the characteristics of the organisms on Earth. An example of adaptation would be and anteater or the beak of a hummingbird. Both organisms developed something that helped them survive in nature. Darwin refuted this theory and said adaptation happens due to natural selection. Genes has been passed on to the off-springs and will continue to get passed to the next generations. He also argued that it is not a result of a divine lawgiver, but the result of a long historical process. Overtime, organisms are developed to be better suited in their habitat. An example is the giraffe with long necks. Charles Darwin did not steal anyone’s idea. He gave credit where credit was due. He was able to take someone’s theory and change it so that it can be tested or observed. He was able to back up his findings with careful observations. He used ideas that already existed and formulate it into a completely different theory by disagreeing or going on a different route with the idea. He wasn’t a complete “creative genius” in a way because he did not come up with completely new ideas. At the same time, he is not a complete “spin doctor” because he changed other people’s idea and made it fresh. He sits perfectly in the middle of the two. His ideas revolutionized the way we see things and allowed us to see things in a new perspective.