As Marx wrote in his last thesis on Feuerbach: “Philosophers have thus far only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.” Pristine originality is an illusion; all great ideas were thought and expressed before a conventional founder first proclaimed them. Copernicus did not reverse heavenly motion single-handedly, and Darwin did not invent evolution. Conventional founders win their just reputations because they prepare for action and grasp the full implication of ideas that predecessors expressed with little appreciation of their revolutionary power. All scholars know that several prominent scientists—Lamarck in particular—developed elaborate systems of evolutionary thought before Darwin. Many, however, suppose that Darwin was the true originator of his own particular theory about how evolution occurred—natural selection. Yet, by his own belated admission (in the historical preface added to later editions of the Origin of Species), Darwin allowed that two authors had preceded him in formulating the principle of natural selection.
What do You think about The Flamingo’s Smile (1985)?
