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I.W.'s picture

Getting unstuck

It is interesting to come back to this question having had another half of the semester go by.  Having read Howard’s End and On Beauty and discussed them for weeks in relation to biological evolution I have come to think that it isn’t really that generative to discuss the implications of biological evolution on a single novel or even on two.  I think that biological evolution can only be successful applied to large body of work.  All the writings of an author over the span of their life, or they evolution of style through the ages, but in one novel it is actually quite useless.   On the other hand I do think that applying literature to each and every experiment done can be incredibly generative.  It forces the scientist to confront the basic assumptions that they have places their faith in and whether they are truly deserving of that honor.  I think that far too often science become so stuck in its path that the scientist forget that ultimately they are not trying to prove a hypothesis but come closer to the truth.  Thinking of science as a story allows for the much needed fluidity of thought which can lead to fantastic things. 

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