and then… let things evolve

I watched the second episode of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey tonight (hint: you can watch it online at Cosmos) and enjoyed it immensely. The story in this installment is about evolution, but for some reason, I was reminded of a line from the original Cosmos:  “If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” That line refers to all the cosmochemistry that went into making the ingredients of the apple pie. And Earth. And the tree that grew the apple. And you. And me.

The series will undoubtedly get around to talking about cosmochemistry, and I’ve written about it many times here and here and here. When chemical elements combine in just the right amounts and under the right conditions, somehow life arises. That is the way the story played out here on our planet, and there’s no doubt in my mind that it will (or has) happened elsewhere. Anyone who has studied chemistry, even for a short time, can figure out how chemical elements combine. Organic chemistry talks about the life implications of those combinations. Biology and biochemistry talk about the ways that life forms and evolves and exists as a result of chemical interactions. It’s something of a simplification to say that life is chemistry, but it if helps you understand how things are put together in the cosmos, then it’s a good step forward in learning about how they work.

In the second episode of Cosmos, Neil deGrasse Tyson walks us through the scientific facts of evolution using the domesticated dog as an excellent example of artificial selection of traits, and polar bears as a stunning example of natural selection for survival traits. As a servant to three cats, I kind of felt myself wondering how we humans have changed the evolution of our feline overlords, too, but I still applaud the series choice of showing just how dogs have made the transition in breeding and temperament from wolves to family friend. It’s actually a complex and beautiful way to show the unfolding of diversity in life, and once you grasp the basic precepts, it’s not hard to accept at all. In fact, it gets harder to posit supernatural effects in the face of just how much we DO know about evolutionary change in life forms. We’re human. We figure these things out. It makes no sense to deny that.

I find the process of evolution rather enthralling to learn about. I don’t know why some people have such a hard time understanding that THEY and all life on Earth are the product of evolution. Neil explores that idea of denialism in the show by simply stating that it’s human to want to differentiate ourselves from other life forms. We’re already differentiated — but, as he points out, we’re also united with ALL other life on the planet by our DNA and the chemicals that make up organic life as we know it. Our appearances, our intelligence, our daily lives — those are all based on how we evolved from that common twisted chain of life-directing molecules. That’s a fact, and no amount of denial is going to change the basic laws of physics and chemistry and how the complex processes of life evolve and endure. Rather than deny, why not use our beautifully evolved minds to learn about the cosmos and how it evolved? That’s a much better use of those hard-won brain cells than shutting them down to new possibilities, knowledge, and facts.

If nothing else, I hope that the new Cosmos will open minds that are closed (due to human frailty and fear) to learning and help their owners embrace and enjoy the cosmos for what it is.