[thechat] READ AT YOUR OWN RISK: Open Letter to America from a Canadian

[Erika Meyer]

>Now the word "evolve" is an interesting word.

right on.  My dad is a biologist w/ specialty in evolution.

Evolution is about what works ... not about who's better.

It irks me to no end when people speak of evolution as if it's some
kind of ladder to climb, as if more recently complex "evolved"
creatures (such as a human) are somehow inherently "superior" to
longer-surviving simpler creatures (such as a worm).

This again is part of western world view, the idea there is some kind
of divine hierarchy of being... animal.... savage... woman... man...
angel... god... something like that.

The pyramid of life vs. the circle of life.

E

>It typically carries with it
>a boatload of upper class white European religeous baggage through
>connotations of 'progress', 'improvement', 'refinement', and nearerness to
>god.
>
><some additional mental background notes>
>* I've been reading a number of exploration books from the mid-1800's lately
>and found the white European encounters with the 'base savages' to be
>particularly interesting.

--