Posted: Oct 06, 2017 11:07 am
Whatever the fuck Darwin did or said, why he said or did it, and how terrible it was, is entirely without consequence. Evolution is true no matter how utterly terrible you think the people responsible for alighting upon it, were or are. All the worlds biologists and biochemists could be racists, rapists and eugenicist dictators, and evolution would still be true.
This is where evolution and science differ radically in approach compared to religion.
In religion it matters most WHO said something and how long ago. The older the better, it does not appear to matter whether there is evidence supporting either what was said, or whether it is true, only whether people can be persuaded to believe it.
In science what matters is whether the theory has merit, can be verified, is consistently supported by existing evidence, has explanatory and predictive utility, and is good enough to supersede competing established ideas. Yes the person who is most associated with introducing it can become famous, and yes personality, politics and persistence have an impact on the adoption of the idea, but they have no effect whatsoever on the VALIDITY of the idea/theory in question.
If an apple fell on a priest's head and he proposed gravity theory, he would be just as right.
If Newton tried to re-establish the Viking gods based on authority, antiquity, and personal conviction, he would be just as wrong.