Week 2 - What does Darwinism mean to me?

When I think of Darwinism, I first picture a man, centuries ago, traveling half around the world in search of answers and new questions. I have enormous respect for someone, not only so adventurous and daring, but so inquisitive and creative. It is difficult, for me, to think of a time when the general belief was that we all came from God. The "idea" of inherited traits did not even exist. Darwin took this small, but significant piece of insight and launched a new field of thought; a new path to dicovering where we as species come from. 

There is an interesting parallel to the wide range of study that has come from Darwinism and the recent understanding that evolution is not linear. Darwin had great discoveries and ideas but he did not discover the "explanation" of evolution. Evolution itself evolves. I am very interested in evolutionary theory and I am curious about what we are evolving toward. I believe that it is extremely important to remain curious and continuously seek new knowledge. With this new found knowledge and ability comes great ethical responsibility. I think it is disastrous to use the argument that Darwinism is a theory and is taught in our schools, therefore creationism should also be taught in our schools. I think it is far more important to teach our children to be curious, responsible and adaptable. Any religion whether it be Darwinism, creationism or christianity falls short of evolving. No idea or theory is true above all else, and no idea or theory is true forever. We have to be willing to change with the earth and learn to listen to the environment. If we remain stubborn and stagnant, the earth will rid itself of us.