Thursday, October 31, 2013
Thursday, October 24, 2013
- Thomas Malthus was a great positive influence to Charles Darwin, who read the works of Malthus. Malthus argued that people had to control the amount of children they had in order to prevent starvation from devastating the human race. In other words, should the human species continue the trend of bearing multiple children, the Earth will eventually and inevitably be depleted of resources. Malthus believed that availability of resources determined the population in a given area.
- Thomas Malthus understood that reproduction was natural. However, Malthus influenced Darwin by explaining that because the Earth has limited resources. Ultimately, the harsh environment due to lack of resource would limit the population. People who had better access to natural resources were more likely to reproduce, and succeed Malthus warned the people that overpopulation would result in famine, outbreak of disease, and even war.
- Charles Darwin's were heavily altered because he read and accepted Malthus' works. At first, Darwin believed that species naturally reproduced until the population was steady. Malthus explained that species simply keep reproducing, with many dying in the process. In addition, should a species overpopulate, it could jeopardize the entire population due to lack of resources. In conclusion, Darwin could not have published his works with the level of accuracy science demands without Malthus.
- Charles Darwin was fiercely opposed to the existence of God and the concept of the Earth as God's creation. Due to the clergy attacking Darwin and his ideas during his early life, Darwin rejected the idea of a higher entity and incorporates his personal bias when publishing his work. The churches across the entire world opposed Darwin's famous book On the Origins of Species. During the time it was seen as blasphemous and a direct attack at the church.
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