I am Charles Darwin


I am Charles Darwin—ninety-nine point nine percent
There’s a little variation that I don’t share with the gent
But we share a common blueprint, which is kinda what he meant
When he came to the conclusion that we’re all of shared descent

I am Charles Darwin—what I mean is, I am Man
I’m a billion trillion accidents instead of One Big Plan
Just a step or two from chimpanzee or from orangutan
Maybe more than distant cousins, but you recognize the clan

I am Charles Darwin—I can’t help it; it’s my genes
We’re mutation and selection, see, when no one intervenes
Like a god with claimed omnipotence, or alien machines
None better and none worse than us, is really what it means

I am Charles Darwin—I was never Eden-cursed
I am just another animal, I’m neither best nor worst
From primordial beginnings, look how widely I’ve dispersed
Such a beautiful idea…Charles Darwin saw it first.

cuttlecap tip to PZ




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Comments

  1. says

    Wow. Gee, I guess it will have to go in Volume 2!Thanks, people! It took maybe half an hour, while I was fixing dinner. I never know which things people are going to like–it rarely corresponds to how much effort it took!

  2. says

    I am Charles Darwin – of course, what else is new?But I’m Wallace and McClintock, Stephen Gould and Watkins too.It is weirdly schizophrenic, but nonetheless it’s true:in the sense of everything we share, quite simply, I am You!

  3. says

    Thanks!However, I realize there is an error in there: I intended to write Watson, not Watkins. Honestly, I don’t know where that name came from…

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