RE: ESSASYS ON SCIENCE AND SOCIETY



"whitesickle@xxxxxxx" whitesickle@xxxxxxx wrote:-
ESSAYS ON SCIENCE AND SOCIETY:
Frankenstein in the Land of Dichter and Denker
Manfred D. Laubichler*
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Manfred D. Laubichler is a theoretical biologist and historian of
science. He holds a Ph.D. in biology. His work is on conceptual issues
in evolutionary and developmental biology, and he is currently also
writing a book entitled Between Philosophy and Experiment: A History of
Theoretical Biology, 1900 to World War II.
CREDIT: ALLAN BURCH
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Social scientists [in Germany] tend to associate 'selection' with
Auschwitz, whereas natural scientists think foremost of Darwin's book."
This quotation from developmental biologist and Nobel Laureate
Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard captures in a nutshell the problems one
faces when discussing questions of biology and biotechnology in
Germany.* What most distinguishes the "two cultures" in Germany is
their different understanding of certain key concepts of science and
history. Here, more than in other countries, the past is a continuous
presence that shapes intellectual debates. And the close association of
Nazi ideology with the language of biology still hangs like a shadow
over any discussion of the implications of modern biology and
biotechnology.

JE:-
Herbert Spencer's reduction of Darwin's-idea-of-genius "natural selection"
into the pathetic tautology "survival of the fittest" provided the National
Socialist legacy of "Social Darwinism". It lives on to this day and remains
based on the NON Darwinian premise that just because I can kill you I must
be fitter than you are. Nobody should doubt the amazing destructiveness of
Spencer's tautology which can be construed to mean just about anything you
wish it to mean. The same applies to any other tautology incorrectly offered
as a valid theory of science in its own right.

Regards,

John Edser
Independent Researcher

edser@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx





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