Simon Conway Morris
Simon Conway Morris
Simon Conway Morris FRSis an English palaeontologist who is best known for his detailed and careful study of the fossils of the Burgess Shale, and of the scientific concept of Cambrian explosion. The results of these discoveries were celebrated in Wonderful Life by Stephen Jay Gould. Conway Morris's own book on the subject, The Crucible of Creation, however, is critical of Gould's presentation and interpretation...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionScientist
aliens evolution imagine
It is difficult to imagine evolution in alien planets operating in any manner other than Darwinian.
alien evolved life likely similar walking
I don't think an alien will be a blob. If aliens are out there they should have evolved just like us. They should have eyes and be walking on two legs. In short if there is any life out there then it is likely to be very similar to us.
perfect diversity stories
On a perfect planet such as might be acceptable to a physicist, one might predict that from its origin the diversity of life would grow exponentially until the carrying capacity, however defined, was reached. The fossil record on Earth, however, tells a very different story.
mean world way
Evolution is true, it happens, it is the way the world is, and we too are one of its products. This does not mean that evolution does not have metaphysical implications; I remain convinced that this is the case.
evil may opinion
It is my opinion that human history can make no sense unless evil doings are recognized for what they are, and that they are bearable only if somehow they may be redeemed.
eye self-confidence firsts
I am driven to observe of the ultra-Darwinists the following features as symptomatic. First, to my eyes, is their almost unbelievable self-assurance, their breezy self-confidence.
atheist england pious
Richard Dawkins is arguably England's most pious atheist.
sight agreement littles
When discussing organic evolution the only point of agreement seems to be: ‘It happened.’ Thereafter, there is little consensus, which at first sight must seem rather odd.
believe tests scientist
Scientists don't believe anything.Scientists test things.
past evil perspective
If there were a clear prospect that such evils were part of a barbarian past, then at least we might find a small crumb of comfort. No such prospect exists: no scientific analysis can even remotely answer or account for past and present horrors of human behaviour.
drama player house
By obtaining a sense of its place in the unfolding drama of life, set in an ecological theatre, so we can understand why it has become one of the leading players.
two example details
Life's Solution builds a forceful case for the predictability of evolutionary outcomes, not in terms of genetic details but rather their broad phenotypic manifestations. The case rests on a remarkable compilation of examples of convergent evolution, in which two or more lineages have independently evolved similar structures and functions.
real world might
It seldom seems to strike the ultra-Darwinists that theology might have its own richness and subtleties, and might strange thought actually tell us things about the world that are not only to our real advantage, but will never be revealed by science.
block technology arrows
The long history of mankind is studded with convergences, perhaps most notably in social systems and the use of artefacts and technology. But for human history, set in the arrow of time, there appears to be one intolerable stumbling-block. This is the catastrophic failure in human values and decency.