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Charles robert darwin essay his work
Charles Darwin and the scientific community
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Chance or Planning
Intelligence and planning are necessary factors in scientific research, however
chance and luck are also important and somewhat necessary factors. The
Autobiography of Charles Darwin and the memoir, The Double Helix, written by
James Watson, prove this assertion. Charles Darwin, James Watson and Francis
Crick were all intelligent men that planned their experiments, however without
chance and luck their success and scientific achievement would not be as great.
Intelligence and planning are important in scientific discovery, but are not
always the dominating forces that drive scientific research. Such is the case
with Charles Darwin, James Watson and Francis Crick. All three of these men
were extremely intellectual, but their intellect only contributed partially to
their success. Intellect and planning, combined with chance and luck
contributed to their overall success.
People take chances on a daily basis. If you actually stop and think about it,
life is one big game of chance. It is by chance that we are born, that we
continue to survive, and that we will eventually die. Some people feel that
this cycle occurs do to the will of God, others, like Charles Darwin believe
that it happens based on chance or natural selection. Whatever you believe or
disbelieve, life cannot be planned. No matter how hard a person attempts to
"plan" their path in life, it is by chance and luck where that path takes us.
Darwin's career was also based on chance, not planning. Darwin never planned to
become a scientist or the father of natural selection. It was by pure chance
that he obtained the job on the voyage of the Beagle, which started his career.
Darwin stated about this voyage that, "The voyage of the Beagle has been the by
far the most important event in my life and has determined my whole career. . ."
(Darwin, p.76) Darwin had not planned to take the trip on the Beagle, he
obtained the opportunity by mere chance. One can attempt to "plan" for a job or
career, but chance and luck are the major factors which allow for success.
Although Darwin's intellect played a role in obtaining the position, chance and
luck were the major factors.
Many scientists suffer great strokes of luck. Two other scientists that did
not "plan" their success were James Watson and Francis Crick. These t...
... middle of paper ...
...major contributing factors.
Charles Darwin said that his, ". . . success as a man of science, whatever this
may have amounted to, has been determined, as far as I can judge, by complex and
diversified mental qualities and conditions. Of these the most important have
been - the love of science - unbounded patience in long reflecting over any
subject - industry in observing and collecting facts - and a fair share of
invention as well as common sense. With such moderate abilities as I possess,
it is truly surprising that thus I should have influenced to a considerable
extent the beliefs of scientific men on some important points." (Darwin, p. 145)
Although Darwin stated his theory with clear and concise arguments, it was by
chance that people believed him, considering he could not plan for his future
success.
Although planning is somewhat important in scientific research and discovery,
chance plays a much more important role. Without chance most scientific
discoveries would not have happened. John Lennon was quoted as stating, "Life
is what happens as we make other plans." Science is much like life. One can
not plan for it, it just takes place.
At Christ’s College, Darwin had a professor named John Stevens Henslow who in time became his mentor. After Darwin graduated Christ’s College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1831, Henslow recommended him for a naturalist’s position aboard the HMS Beagle.The HMS Beagle was a ship that was to take a five year long trip around the world. Charles Darwin took the opportunity knowing that the up close experience with collecting natural specimen would teach and interest him greatly. Darwin uncovered many unknown thoughts about the specimens he discovered during his journey (Price, 2006). Other naturalists believed that all species either came into being at the start of the world, or were created over the course of natural history. Darwin however, noticed similarities among species all over the globe...
It’s easy to say that everything happens for a reason because it allows people to avoid taking responsibility for their, and others actions. Believing in fate gives people the option to “go with the flow” believing that whatever comes belongs to some master plan.. If someone loses their job, they instinctively turn to something greater than them in hopes of aid, but the truth is that it is entirely up to said person to get their life back. There is no outside help in life, we all drift alone throughout it, only certain that one day we’ll die and fade into oblivion. leaving our loved ones to grieve over our departure while we turn to dust, missing the rest of the short lifespan of our insignificant planet in the infinite sea of the universe.
Darwin, Charles. Voyage of the Beagle. Eds. Browne, Janet, and Michael Neve. London: Penguin Books, 1989.
The reason for this is because it an action did not happen by determined, then it is possible that is was by chance it happen. It could be by luck I choice to walk the long way home and I avoid my ex-girlfriend. On page 73 it talk about how it nothing else determined a person decision on an action, then it be just as much of a fluke just as much as feel well. There nothing prove that it not chance they I wanting to go to Wendy’s. I could have choosing Burger King and not Wendy’s and by chance I chose Burger King. I could chose Wendy’s because it closer, but simpler indeterminism disagree with that idea. Ginet say that those factors are made be regular events on page
Determinism and free will are incompatible. The events in people’s lives are already chosen for us, or determined. The expected behaviors of people are explained by natural laws and by experiences that they were exposed to. But this viewpoint does not explain people’s intuition. Although, there is a chain of physical causes that lead into people’s intuition.
In the early 1800's, a group of naturalists led by Captain FitzRoy, were planning an overseas trip, which they called the Voyage of the Beagle. They invited Darwin along, not as a naturalist, but as a helper. Through this trip, Darwin met many explorers that had their own theories about evolution. The first theory, which is the best known and most widely accepted one, is creationism. Creationism states that God created the heavens and the earth. Th...
Charles Darwin, born in 1809, was raised by his two Christian parents. Naturally, young Charles openly embraced the ideas of Christianity, and adopted many religious practices into his own life. By the 1830’s, Darwin had developed a strong desire to study natural history and natural theology, or anything that related to divine design in nature. In 1831, Darwin was invited on a trip of his lifetime: to sail around the world studying Mother Nature’s different types of life. At 22 years of age, thus began Darwin’s 5-year long voyage on the vessel HMS Beagle with his fellow scientific scholars.
Charles Darwin was a scientist from the United Kingdom who was a naturalist and geologist in the early 1800s. Although, he is best known for his role in the evolution theory. Darwin decided to take part in a five-year voyage in 1831, called the Beagle, to make naval charts of South America. At the beginning of the expedition Darwin was just a young graduate, at the age of twenty-two, with only eagerness to be able to be a part of the opportunity. He had no high expectations to find the rare discoveries that he had found during his time on land on the far off continent. By the end of the excursion, Darwin had made a name for himself as a geologist and fossil collector after his journal was published, later titled The Voyage of the Beagle. His writing got him a lot of attention from multiple scientists around the world.
Darwin made a five year voyage on The HMS Beagle that would change his life, and all life as a matter of fact, forever. The observations that he made in the Galapagos Islands would be the basis for his theory. The Galapagos
Chance and Fate are two tightly knitted subjects that are differentiated between a fine line of probability and destiny due to some belief of a higher power. An event in a person’s life, which he or she wouldn’t expect and also has changed one’s course of life is often referred to as fate or chance. Controversially, some people term it as fate, while others term it as chance, because they can’t explain how the outcome or series of events occurred. At a personal level, the words ‘fate’ and ‘chance’ have significant impacts in a person’s life. The two seem to blend together in every life choice, which seems to start as free will but will ultimately end in fate.
There are many philosophical debates over countless amounts of things. One of the big debates is over the question: Do humans perform actions via free will or is every action performed part of a bigger picture? Are human beings all victims of what is known as fate? Which side is correct is up for debate obviously. Both sides of this never ending debate provide excellent arguments on whether or not humans are free to choose their own actions, but in this Super-Bowl of all debates, only one team can come out on top. Yes, human beings act on free, but this does not mean that fate is inexistent. It merely means that fate plays a much smaller part and is not quite what people interpret it as. Many believe everything that happens to a person is already predetermined by a higher power, but the validity of their stance depends on the actual existence of a higher power, a "creator" of everybody's fates. The attempt to prove this existence has taken thousands of years without prevail, and has showed no true signs of improvement. The stance that I take is on the side which argues in the favor of free will, and I will not budge unless the opposing side can prove to the world that this "creator" exists.
Nature is complicated. It includes many different sorts of things and one of these is human beings. Such beings exhibit one unique yet natural attribute that others things apparently do not—that is free will.
Darwin, Charles. Voyage of the Beagle. Charles Darwin’s Journal of Researches. Edited and abridged by Janet Browne and Michael Neve. Penguin Books, 1989.
To take a chance, one is accepting the possibilities of what could happen from the choice they have made.
Are our lives only a set out plan controlled by fate? Do our choices and our actions determine our futures? What is the defining factors that affect the course of our existence on Earth? These are all questions that have afflicted society for centuries. As actor William Shatner once said, “The conundrum of free will and destiny has always kept me dangling.” Previously, this debate has been present mainly in the theological world between different religious denominations. However, recently this examination has moved to the secular universe. I am of the belief that we can live our lives with free will over our actions because of my ideas on humanity, my views on life, my understanding of reason, and my belief that there is a Creator.