Darwin Day is Around the Corner

Darwin Day is February 12, just 2 weeks from tomorrow. Have you made your Darwin Day plans yet? Click here to go to the Darwin Day Web site for lots of information about events and celebrations going on all over the world. There are currently 300 events scheduled in 31 countries for Darwin Day 2009. There is also a countdown clock on the Darwin Day Web site.

I am planning on attending a lecture called "Darwin at 200, Human Nature at a Few Million, A Myth Dispelled" in Arlington, VA. You can access the event Web site by clicking here. The lecture will be given by Dennis K. McBride, Ph.D., Academic President of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. This talk first reviews some of the least known but important elements of Charles Darwin’s portfolio as he published “Origins” in 1859, and “Descent of Man” in 1871. (For example, Darwin was, fortunately for us, very prone to sea sickness.)

Poll numbers show that a significant proportion of today’s population does not accept Darwinism as applied to humans. Darwin foresaw and actually embraced this resistance. More importantly, a significant proportion of adults, including academics, accept human evolution but eschew the idea of a DNA-supported (i.e., not genetically determined) “human nature.” At least three evolved characteristics of human evolution make the species very different from its closest relatives: the opposable thumb, bipedalism, and the encephalized brain (which increased in size by a factor of 3 over the past few million years).

The lecture is being sponsored by the National Capital Area Skeptics. It will be held on Saturday, February 14 at 1:30 p.m. at the National Science Foundation, Room 110 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA. Happy Birthday Charlie!