[HN Gopher] Darwin's Barnacles
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       Darwin's Barnacles
        
       Author : benbreen
       Score  : 23 points
       Date   : 2021-10-10 01:57 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.sciencehistory.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.sciencehistory.org)
        
       | jaqalopes wrote:
       | This is a charming read. I genuinely did not know that the
       | finches were not Darwin's main avenue to discovering evolution.
       | The barnacle story really puts into perspective that his work was
       | much more in-depth than the popular story I had understood
       | assumes.
        
         | blululu wrote:
         | I would highly recommend reading Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle.
         | It is one of the finest examples of travel literature and
         | natural history in one text. It is also worth noting that the
         | Galapagos play a relatively minor role in the book and are in
         | many ways one of the more minor chapters. At the closing
         | summary, while reflecting upon the voyage it does not even
         | receive mention among the most notable places on the journey.
        
       | hirundo wrote:
       | So where were the males? Embarrassingly, Darwin had nearly thrown
       | them away. He'd been finding little tick-like things attached to
       | Ms. Arthrobalanus--parasites, he assumed. So he picked them off.
       | In reality, these "ticks" were the menfolk. They were ten times
       | smaller than the females and consisted of nothing but sacs of
       | sperms. All other body parts on the males, such as stomachs and
       | heads, had been whittled away by evolution.
       | 
       | How can demands for equality between the sexes in general be
       | justified when gross inequalities can be such useful fitness
       | strategies? If our species were made more fit by men evolving
       | into small sacks that women attach to themselves like jewelry,
       | then that practice would be both unequal and ethical.
        
         | ceejayoz wrote:
         | Because we're not barnacles?
        
         | javert wrote:
         | Demands for equality between the sexes are justified because
         | people of both sexes want more equality in order to improve
         | their own personal lives.
         | 
         | The justification never _was_ "fitness of the species."
         | 
         | I believe that would be a _terrible_ goal.
         | 
         | My belief happens to reflect the global consensus in the
         | current era.
         | 
         | This was one of the (many) issues behind World War II.
         | 
         | Although I don't think even the Nazis _truly_ believed in
         | maximizing the fitness of the species. I think it was an
         | excuse.
        
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       (page generated 2021-10-11 23:01 UTC)