In the second section of our readings in On the Origin of Species, I noticed Darwin touches a lot upon the concept of the passage of time. In fact, in his Chapter “Imperfection of the Geological Record” he has a section titled “On the Lapse of Time” (282). In this section Darwin seems to want to impress upon us the importance of the passage of time. He says, “It is highly important for us to gain some notion, however imperfect, of the lapse of years” (287). Continually, Darwin seems awed by the amount of time that life has existed on earth. He exclaims, “What an infinite number of generations, which the mind cannot grasp, must have succeeded each other in the long roll of years” (287)! At times, Darwin is so refreshingly human in his writing—especially in this last quote where he seems so mind-boggled by this huge concept of time. He seems to strip away the well-informed scientist for a moment and wonder with us all at this vast concept.
I have often felt the same way as Darwin does about time. I think about what my grandfather lived through and it includes The Great Depression, WWII, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, Korean War, 9/11, the first African-American president, and more. This was all only in a lifetime, and that lifetime was but a century of the billions of years that have elapsed since the beginning of earth.
There is a rich history of the earth before human existence. It is mysterious and only through indirect clues and marks on the earth can we truly see this history. Take the Grand Canyon for example, what a beautiful and awesome part of this world. And to think that it’s formation took billions of years of erosion and gradual carving away of the land. Darwin sites similar wonders saying, “The Craven fault extends upwards for 30 miles, and along this line the vertical displacement of the strata has varied from 600 to 3000 feet... yet there is nothing on the surface [of the sea] to show such prodigious movements” (285). He then continues to remark, “The consideration of these facts impresses my mind almost in the same manner as does the vain endeavor to grapple with the idea of eternity” (285). I can understand Darwin here: sometimes there are great changes occurring over a vast amount of time and trying to comprehend these cumulative massive changes is hard to wrap the mind around.
All in all, I just wanted to highlight Darwin’a fascination with time and show that we can relate to this concept even today. Also, I wanted to suggest that this argument is great for his book because he gives all of these examples of massive changes occurring over long periods of time and this is great support for his natural selection theory.
I agree with Marlee that the issue of time is just as significant today as it was in Darwin's time. Even to a more modern, science-based society, the concept of eternity is enthralling, disquieting, and incredible. I think part of the reason for that is because our minds are so schedule-oriented and always handle time quantitatively (yesterday, today, tomorrow, five-hundred years ago, in an hour...). When we consider the amount of time that the earth has existed, it becomes an immeasurable blob of vagueness, and that's just weird. I definitely think that this does elevate the beauty of the land forms surrounding us; they are like pearls that the earth has spent forever crafting. When thinking about this in terms of natural selection, perhaps one could say the same thing about us and other living things? (while still realizing that natural selection is a haphazard process, etc.)
ReplyDeleteThe time in the book is indeed an interesting idea. When Darwin speaks of time, he doesn't show just how long the world has existed -- doesn't mention that human existence is a fraction of a second on the geological clock. I find it interesting that he mentions no specific amounts of time -- As I commented in my blog, Darwin treads cautiously on the grounds of keeping his book religiously correct. Its interesting to see how extensively he integrated this cautiousness throughtout his book.
ReplyDeleteI really like what Emily both suggest that there is a sense of great respect for the world around us that that comes when we consider how old the world is. We do not always value the things around us as a product of numerous years of progress, and instead may only think that our environment is where we are. Darwin truly drives this point home about how evolution takes time. Darwin says that artificial selection can be seen to change the characteristics of a species over a human lifetime. Perhaps, because we can alter the natural path of other life for our benefit, that it can be difficult to hold great value to other life in its naturally sculpted form.
ReplyDeleteRelating to Emily's last sentence, we are the sum of human history, and eventually we will just have been part of history. Today marks the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. What I have gotten from this book so far is that, we are the products of so much before us, and we need to appreciate how invaluable all life is.
I believe that Darwin's fascination with time is two sided. on one hand he is fascinated by it as Marlee points out. on the other hand, he is also frustrated by it as it represents the greatest barrier to the proving of his theories. when considering the fact that it is difficult to ascertain what took place not 100 years ago it is amazing to think that we humans can even make the feeblest attempt at discerning the nature of the world as unbelievably far back as a Billion years. on page 301 Darwin admits that the search for many distinct variations in a species is futile given the extent to which time has destroyed the evidence of their existence saying : "we have not right to expect to find in our geological formations, an infinite number of these transitional forms... we ought to only look for a few links". Darwin also later reflects on how he must, despite his best efforts admit the immense impact of time against theories "I do not pretend that I should ever have suspected how poor a record of the mutations of life, the best preserved geological section presented, had not the difficulty...pressed so hardly on my theory"(302). in these lines Darwin shows how his fixation on time stems from both it's unfathomable and frustrating nature.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is certainly mind boggling to consider the immense passage of time in our past, it is perhaps more fascinating to think about what may happen in the future. In the scale of things, humans are utterly insignificant to our planet's history. Our ethnocentric view of the world is blown out of the water under this perception. Perhaps this is what made Darwin's claims of evolution so challenging to stomach- accepting the theory of evolution meant accepting that mankind is not the basis of all life, and in fact an infinite amount of species existed and flourished before us in a span of time that we cannot even fathom. The time that it takes for natural selection is so immense that even in the history of man have we seen significant changes. This reminds me of the infinite amount of possibilities in the time to come. Will mankind successfully survive the challenges of externalities? Will we as a species eventually become extinct? In the scheme of things, does it really even matter?
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is essential for Darwin to describe the importance of the passage of time. Without understanding the vastness of time it is difficult to understand the ideas and concepts of evolution. As humans our lives are so brief it is nearly impossible to detect adaptations or mutations in species. How can a person believe something that they cannot see happening before their eyes? Such large changes in a population become much more probable with the realization that there is an absurd amount of time. Evolution can be confusing because any change in a species seems and is highly improbable in our understanding of time. However, any change becomes possible granted the vastness of time. Only by understanding the incredible amount of time over which changes in species occur can we begin to understand evolution.
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