Understanding Evolution (HT Michael Polanyi)

Posted on 21/03/2014 by Jon Garvey

How do you catch a lion with your bare hands?

Catch two and let one escape.

two_lions

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About Jon Garvey

Training in medicine (which was my career), social psychology and theology. Interests in most things, but especially the science-faith interface. The rest of my time, though, is spent writing, playing and recording music.
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5 Responses to Understanding Evolution (HT Michael Polanyi)

  1. Hanan says:
    21/03/2014 at 04:13 pm

    I’m positive I will understand that after my sixth cup of Earl Grey Tea.

  2. Hanan says:
    21/03/2014 at 05:44 pm

    Alright! alright! I can’t take it. What does it mean? The tea didn’t work. The ale didn’t work. Even the benadryl didn’t help much either. I can’t go into the weekend without understanding.

  3. Peter Hickman says:
    21/03/2014 at 07:09 pm

    Whilst discussing circular systems, Polanyi re-told a story about a lion. And two honey-gatherers.

  4. Avatar photo Jon Garvey says:
    21/03/2014 at 08:35 pm

    Wow Peter – yours is more cryptic than mine (maybe I’ll come to it in Polyani’s book!).

    Hanan, it’s just a simple metaphor for random mutation & natural selection that I felt he put very succinctly – natural selection tells you which lion to release. But there’s rather a big gap in telling you how to get hold of a lion or two in the first place. The arrival of the fittest was known to be a problem back in the 1950s, and hasn’t gone away yet.

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