Evolving Door

Since I'm pretty much in favor of George Carlin's theory on passive eugenics (i.e. too much "safety" stuff for kids like bike helmets and mulch padding underneath plastic playground equipment, is stopping nature from weeding out the unfit), stuff like this always catches my eye...

Evolution, Mutation May Occur Faster than Thought

All Things Considered audio

Aug. 4, 2004

Cancer and evolution both occur when genetic material changes randomly in ways that may be good or bad. A study in Nature magazine this week shows that these changes build up at a much quicker rate than anyone thought. The observation was made in tiny worms, but could revolutionize thinking about all living organisms. NPR's Joe Palca reports.

It's especially interesting in a general sense because a couple of days after I heard this, I happened to be at the local coffee shop listening to what I describe as a "militant evolutionist." To me, a "militant" anything is someone who's so overzealous about their point of view that they don't even bother to examine their point of view. Case in point, I heard this person vehemently defend evolution as a fact, not a theory. "No, no it's not a 'theory' of evolution... it's a fact!" Sorry, Charlie. Even e=mc² is a theory, and one that Stephen Hawking continues to pick at.

I could've argued, but if one of his cronies couldn't break through his logic, I sure wouldn't have been able to.