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Marina's picture

week two.

Submitted by Marina on Mon, 02/02/2009 - 11:19pm.
I am finding Darwin's writing to be a challenge to my ability to focus. The text is very dry, and I have to force myself to get through the chapters. I also find it hard to retain the wealth of information he provides in each chapter. In our small discussion group with Professor Dalke there was some conversation regarding Darwin's audience. I find myself leaning towards the belief that Darwin intended his work to be read by a wide variety of people. This is supported because although there is a significant amount of esoteric name-dropping, he still provides descriptions to back up all his ideas in an attempt to make it clear to someone unfamiliar with his references. Another student in the discussion mentioned how he could have been writing for anyone who would listen because he was proposing such a novel, groundbreaking idea. I agree with this view as well. However, sometimes his explanations can be a bit confusing and complex because of the many terms and esoteric references he employs that implies it was written for a smaller audience- possibly other naturalists, Darwin's peers.
 
The conversation regarding the suspension of disbelief and how it occurs in literature but not in science is an interesting subject. Obviously, literature requires the suspension of disbelief in order to allow yourself to enter a fictional world. In science, however, the answer is not so clear. Because science is often thought of as something that deals in facts and data, the idea of the suspension of disbelief would probably not be as readily applied as it is to literature. Yet, I think that science and the suspension of disbelief are very connected. There are many situations in science where one has to question reality and go against what is thought of as the truth or fact. Darwin's theory of evolution itself requires a degree of the suspension of disbelief because many people of his time probably had to suspend their disbelief in order to entertain his new, groundbreaking idea.

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