[Marxism] Poor Design Re. Clitoris, orgasm and Darwinism

[Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1@xxxxxxx>]

"Graham M." <gkmilner@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> It seems to me that we Marxists should be prepared to acknowledge
> the existence of design and purpose in the universe (the
> architecture of it is visible all around), and thus consider the
> possibility of an originating intelligence.

One of Charles Darwin's insight, which enabled him to take apart the
then prevailing theological view of life, is that nature is full of
poor designs.  From the point of view of utility, many features of
life, not just human life, are not really efficient, either for the
purpose of individual survival or species reproduction.  Looking at
everything as if it were designed for a specific purpose from the
get-go is a creationist view of life.  Stephen Jay Gould put it this
way: "If God had designed a beautiful machine to reflect his wisdom
and power, surely he would not have used a collection of parts
generally fashioned for other purposes. . . . Odd arrangements and
funny solutions are the proof of evolution -- paths that a sensible
God would never tread but that a natural process, constrained by
history, follows perforce" (_The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in
Natural History_, pp 20-21).
--
Yoshie

* Critical Montages: <http://montages.blogspot.com/>
* "Proud of Britain": <http://www.proudofbritain.net/ > and
<http://www.proud-of-britain.org.uk/>

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