Today is a day celebrated by scientists, evolutionary theorists and anyone who has ever casually noticed the varying degrees of relationships living things have with one another.
Today is Darwin’s Day. Charles Robert Darwin, 19th century naturalist and geologist famous for writing On the Origin of the Species (1859).
The day has been celebrated sporadically on Darwin’s birthday since his death. Demonized by the religious-right, Darwin has been adopted by humanists, atheists, and scientists of various backgrounds as a sort-of poster-boy for free, rational, scientific thought.
Darwin’s Day , not to be confused with “The Darwin Awards” which instead of celebrating scientific achievements, rather celebrates:
“The self-removal of incompetent genetic material from the human race. Therefore, the potential winner must be deceased, or at least incapable of reproducing.”
Only visit their site if you really have a taste for schadenfreude (German for “Taking pleasure in another’s discomfort.”).
Otherwise celebrate Darwin’s Day or week in some cases, by attending a scientific lecture on evolution in your community at a local university or library. The less adventurous can watch the docudrama Creation (2009), a theatrical representation of Darwin and his work on the HMS Beagle.
Or you could also just stay home and gaze inot your pet’s eyes and ponder how the two of you are actually cousins if you go back far enough through the family-tree and photo-album.
