A new Darwin revolution?

With Darwin day celebrations going on around the world, people are looking back on a man that changed science as part of a larger cultural revolution away from using theology to explain natural phenomenon and toward a more secular thinking. One wonders, however, where the next such revolution might take place. From where will the next groundbreaking scientific discovery that truly challenges the tenets of our social understanding come from? I'd offer -- linkurl:and I know I'm not the first;htt

Written byBrendan Maher
| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share
With Darwin day celebrations going on around the world, people are looking back on a man that changed science as part of a larger cultural revolution away from using theology to explain natural phenomenon and toward a more secular thinking. One wonders, however, where the next such revolution might take place. From where will the next groundbreaking scientific discovery that truly challenges the tenets of our social understanding come from? I'd offer -- linkurl:and I know I'm not the first;http://www.the-scientist.com/2005/09/12/14/1/ -- neuroscience, particularly the deduction of the seat of consciousness. Defogging this mystery and finally making the mind something understandable and not merely miraculous is the next great challenge for biologists. A stellar linkurl:__New Yorker__;http://www.newyorker.com article appearing tomorrow hammered home for me just how rudimentary our understanding is, following a pair of philosophers Pat and Paul Churchland (it's their Valentine issue after all), as they struggle to convince their colleagues that the mind can be understood as matter. Crushing dualist notions that have persisted for thousands of years of human history would be no small feat. And in a sense it would complete the course that Darwin set. Although the article doesn't deal much with Darwin, it incidentally provides one of the clearest, most succinct descriptions of his theory that I've read in a while. Describing the Churchland's frustrations in how even the abstractions of neuroscience don't go far enough toward understanding the mind, Larissa MacFarquhar writes: "The mind wasn't some sort of computer program but a biological thing that had been cobbled together higgledy-piggledy, in the course of a circuitous, wasteful, and particular evolution." I'm fond of those last three descriptors. Circuitous, wasteful, and particular: They do anthropomorphize evolution a bit, though no less than Darwin himself, but I think they neatly capture its nature. Interesting too that the author would pick the words of Darwin's colleague and critic linkurl:John Herschell;http://www.palass.org/modules.php?name=palaeo&sec=newsletter&page=22 who couldn't cope with a process completely devoid of intelligent direction calling Darwin's "the law of higgledy-piggledy" -- harldy a crass insult. I wonder what would be the reaction to the person who takes the next step in his legacy, and shows conclusively that the human mind, intellect, experience, and consciousness is nothing more than a piece of meat in a larger than average skull.
Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

Share
February 2026

A Stubborn Gene, a Failed Experiment, and a New Path

When experiments refuse to cooperate, you try again and again. For Rafael Najmanovich, the setbacks ultimately pushed him in a new direction.

View this Issue
Human-Relevant In Vitro Models Enable Predictive Drug Discovery

Advancing Drug Discovery with Complex Human In Vitro Models

Stemcell Technologies
Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Beckman Coulter Logo
Conceptual multicolored vector image of cancer research, depicting various biomedical approaches to cancer therapy

Maximizing Cancer Research Model Systems

bioxcell

Products

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Pioneers Life Sciences Innovation with High-Quality Bioreagents on Inside Business Today with Bill and Guiliana Rancic

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Expands Research Reagent Portfolio to Support Global Nipah Virus Vaccine and Diagnostic Development

Beckman Coulter

Beckman Coulter Life Sciences Partners with Automata to Accelerate AI-Ready Laboratory Automation

Refeyn logo

Refeyn named in the Sunday Times 100 Tech list of the UK’s fastest-growing technology companies