The descent of man
and selection in relation to sex
by Charles Darwin · first published 1871
14% recommend76% neutral10% critical
The Descent of Man, Darwin's second landmark work on evolutionary theory (following The Origin of the Species), marked a turning point in the history of science with its modern vision of human nature as the product of evolution. Darwin argued that the noblest features of humans, such as language and morality, were the result of the same natural processes that produced iris petals and scorpion tails.To convey the revolutionary importance of this groundbreaking book, renowned evolutionary science writer Carl Zimmer edited this special abridged edition—made up of nine excerpts, each one represent
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For a very entertaining and educational book that tangentially related; I can highly recommend: Y - The Descent of Man by Steve Jones [0] I am thrilled to see more chromosomes being mapped/sequenced. Please excuse my high-school level of biology knowledge here, but have we definitively progressed beyond correlation…
on “The human Y chromosome has been completely sequenced” ↗I would also highly recommend the sequel, the Descent of Man. That's where Darwin actually discusses the evolution of humans, a topic he gingerly avoided in TOOS
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books or essays written at least 100 years ago?” ↗Check out Darwin's "Descent of Man".
I'm sorry, I know that I'm reading a dead discussion. But your comment shows that you have no idea what impact The Descent of Man had. Both good and bad. You can argue for or against it on many grounds, ranging from Darwin's sexism to the importance of treating humans as just another animal to its misuse by the eugenics movement…
on “The Kolmogorov option” ↗…can no longer have much diversity of thought in public debates. If these kind of "hate speech" laws existed in England in the 19th century, Charles Darwin would possibly never have published the book "Descent of Man", because saying "You and I both descend from animals" was a very demeaning thing to say to most people at the time, and therefore could have landed him in court. The very idea of biological evolution…
on “Vietnam Deploys Cyber Warriors to Fight ‘Wrongful Views'” ↗…definition, I think. Darwin made a distinction between natural selection and sexual selection, > Sexual selection was first proposed by Charles Darwin in The Origin of Species (1859) and developed in The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871), as he felt that natural selection alone was unable to account for certain types of non-survival adaptations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_selection So…
on “When sexual selection can lead to a decline in the capacity for survival” ↗…soon as this virtue is honoured and practised by some few men, it spreads through instruction and example to the young, and eventually becomes incorporated in public opinion. -- Charles Darwin, "The Descent of Man" (1871) It's the in-between that drives me nuts, and the closing window of opportunity to achieve some kind of unity that isn't based on deformity and deception, if not outright force. I don't understand…
on “U.S. military is expanding special forces operations in Africa” ↗I don't know what Darwin's Descent of Man says, but considering the immediate reaction, I'd say it's not worth defending.
on “The Kolmogorov option” ↗…a little depressing how the author had to face a ton of entrenched academic prejudice to get his theory out. That aspect alone is more interesting than the actual book, which focuses on Darwin's The Descent of Man arguments that have been marginalized due to their implications rather than their accuracy. Lots of interesting bird trivia, too, if you're into that.
on “Survival of the Prettiest” ↗…soon as this virtue is honoured and practised by some few men, it spreads through instruction and example to the young, and eventually becomes incorporated in public opinion. -- Charles Darwin, "The Descent of Man" (1871) > A human being is a part of a whole, called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind…
on “Einstein's Science Defied Nationalism and Crossed Borders” ↗…sense of smell is of extremely slight service, if any, even to the dark coloured races of men, in whom it is much more highly developed than in the white and civilised races. -- Charles Darwin, "The Descent of Man" (1871) > It would be a pity if these Chinese supplant all other races. For the likes of us the mere thought is unspeakably dreary. -- Albert Einstein
on “Einstein's Science Defied Nationalism and Crossed Borders” ↗…In the eternal ’struggle for existence,’ it would be the inferior and less favoured race that had prevailed—and prevailed by virtue not of its good qualities but of its faults.” - Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man
on “Charles Darwin’s Descent of Man, 150 Years Later” ↗…until Alfred Russel Wallace started to publish in the mid/late 1850s, which is probably what pushed him into finally publishing. Also, Darwin only alluded to humans in the work, and didn't publish the Descent of Man until 1871.
on “In Obscurity” ↗The term [devolution], as used commonly, implies some sort of objective heirarchy to evolution Yes. Such an objective hierarchy of species is frequently referred-to in Charles Darwin's, The Descent of Man. http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext00/dscmn10.txt Von Baer has defined advancement or progress in the organic scale better than any one else, as resting on the amount of differentiation and specialisation…
on “Has human evolution stopped?” ↗…signs off with: "I would suggest that what makes us unique is that we are mammals—only more so. The mammalian characteristics have been amplified in human beings. This echoes Darwin’s supposition in The Descent of Man that humans differ mentally from animals in degree rather than in kind and that, as Giovanni Boniolo put it, it is only logical to suppose that human behaviour evolved from that of our non-human ancestors.…
on “The Uniqueness of Mammals” ↗