Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

RIP: Stephen Jay Gould

Posted by chrisd on from the becoming-what-you-study dept.

gdyas writes: " Reuters reports that famed paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould has died today at age 60 of cancer. Famous for his many essays on natural history, modifications to Darwin's theories, and as the winner of the American Book Award for "The Mismeasure of Man", a history of intelligence testing, Gould was and remains a profound influence on biology." CNN also has a piece on him.

2 of 269 comments (clear)

  1. Re:And most importantly he was on the Simpsons by the_Upsetter · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Why was this modded to +5 funny?

    Were the moderators just remembering how funny the episode was...? This kind of makes no sense

    Not much funny in the actual post

    --
    the most mysterious thing you'll see today
  2. Re:90 percent also believe... by mkoenecke · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Re: "It's selfish and immoral to only be concerned about yourself, or be like Reagan's fundie Secretary of Interior who said "We don't have to worry about the environment, the day of judgement is at hand". Yes, we do have to worry about the future even after we're gone for our children."

    What I find amusing is an atheist calling something "immoral," thereby adopting tenets of theism without thinking. Without God, there is no morality: only situational advantage, and it is illogical and senseless to "have to worry about the future." There is no reason to be moral/nice/kind to one's fellow man apart from a perceptible advantage gained; if you cannot identify the exact advantage, you are acting illogically. Atheism, if carried to its logical conclusion, inexorably leads to nihilism.

    --
    TANSTAAFL