Background & Goals for This View of Life

Welcome to TVL, This View of Life :)

In the last sentence of his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (1859), Charles Darwin summarized his findings, saying,

"There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."

In a sense, by speaking of his argument--the theory he had spent a whole book laying out--in this way, he implicitly spoke of his worldview, which was transferred into the life of all intellectuals interested in biology in the modern sense of the word, who embraced the fact of organic evolution by his mechanism of natural selection. Since 1859, evolutionary theory (explanations about the fact of evolution by natural selection and other means) has advanced far beyond Darwin's original theoretical framework and the view he spoke of has revolutionized the world by changing the way humans think about life on earth, even about themselves. The same view that Darwin spoke of in his book, the initiation of the field of evolutionary biology as we know it today, is a view that I share, in its present form, with many other thinkers and scientists. This View of Life is still grand. There is much in it and, although scientific debate about its validity was reliquished in the 19th Century A.D., some intend to strike at its credibility, constantly engaging scientists and laymen in a debate surrounding a complex set of religious and political issues and propaganda, not to mention ignorance and money.

My point is that I am, like you, many things--among them, a Darwinist. This follows logically from the facts that rational people embrace the truth, evolution is true and I am rational, thus I accept evolution. I didn't need to think about the social or psychological or spiritual implications of this embrace while making my decision, since these things do not alter the truth. Not only am I a Darwinist, however, I happen also to be an evolutionary biologist, a person engaged in scientific inquiry about things dealing with the evolution of life. I firmly believe that there has never been a more exciting time--not in 1859, not in the 1930s modern synthesis--to be involved in the study of life's evolution. Also, amid public and scientific controversy and in light of technological innovations and rapid progress in the field, evolutionary biology continues to captivate people's interests, their conversations, their thoughts about who they are, where they come from, where life's variety comes from, and on, and on, and on. This is a crucial time for all people to be informed about evolution and how it relates to other scientific and non-scientific problems.

So What??

Blogs allow people to join in the worldwide cyber conversation in an economy of quickly spreading ideas, fast evolution of gadgetry, and application of information technologies to everything from science to business to the arts to personal writing and social utilities. People are catching on to blogging with great speed, and this relatively young tool and network holds the potential to powerfully influence the world. Indeed, it already has. So, I decided that I couldn't just stand around and let this opportunity pass by. I mean, who wouldn't want to be a part of it? Obviously, someone who didn't care, didn't have time, didn't have access to the internet, etc. I am not one of those people. I am creating this blog not only because I think it'll be an awesome, entertaining, fulfilling experience connecting me with others interested in riding the waves of the blogosphere, participating in sharing our lives and thoughts, but also because, for me, This View of Life that Darwin helped articulate is a foundational principle for viewing the world around us and an integral part of what my life's all about. Call it narcissistic--hell, I'll ask myself if its narcissistic. It's not. Narcissism is excessive love of self. That's not me. But I do believe that I have something--many things, even valuable--to say, a conversation to join in. Like other bloggers, I like to write and to be read. I like to communicate what I have learned and what I want to learn with other people. I like to be creative. I want to have a voice in the cyber age. So, here goes.

I am sympathetic to the belief that people don't need a verbalized reason for everything that they do in life. Sometimes, the argument goes, it's nice to just be spontaneous, follow your guts and do what feels right for a given situation. This kind of flexability deserves praise. Alternatively, while this blog makes no claims about avoiding this enterprise, I thought it might be a good idea to begin my blog, This View of Life, with purpose. In particular, I thought it wise to lay out a foundation for what this blog will be and what its content will do for myself and others. The overarching goals (at present) of TVL are for me to accomplish the following (in no order of importance),

1. Diary/biography of personal experiences; provides a place for open thinking, connection, and personal expression
2. Teaching… (a) others about how to be a good graduate student, about my perspective as a graduate student in evolutionary biology, about what’s hot in evolutionary biology and systematics, and promote this area of inquiry; and (b) about what I am learning, basic biology and evolution course for the masses
3. Discussion… of personal philosophy, which allows interaction of my worldview with others, of current topics in philosophy and intellectual life
4. Making money… from advertising, writing, and gear, all with the purpose in mind to funnel this money into (a) my research, (b) philanthropic activities related to scientific research, environmental crisis, biodiversity inventory, etc.
5. Increase my status as an expert/rising star in the fields maintaining my interest: (a) scientific research in ichthyology, evolution, macroecology, systematics and population genetics (serious interest), (b) guitar and the arts (not as serious), and (c) philosophy of science/biology and the intelligent design-evolution debate (serious interest).
6. Encouragement… of others to blog, to write, to think, to philosophize, and to learn and discuss views about life and the universe’s evolution from a rational and curious scientific standpoint. This is done directly and by contributing momentum to the blogosphere, claiming and changing my landscape on the information highway.

Hopefully, several different classes of people will visit This View of Life. These may include: (a) Readers-only, or people who drop by because they are interested in a label or search result that led them to my blog, (b) other graduate students and non-students who want to learn more about my experiences as a student/biologist/etc. in my bioregion and in this time, but who may or may not comment, (c) people who want intend to engage based on the nature of the content, or those who want to debate with me about the validity of evolution and discuss theories of its implications for our personal lives, businesses, medicine, psychology, and so on, (d) friends and family, and (e) people who arrived here by some other method. What they will find is a portal into my writings and my life.

Here, at TVL, they (you) will be able to learn about biology, evolution, fishes; my field, lab, classroom, and other intellectual and for-fun pursuits; perspectives on getting into graduate school, how to vs. how not to succeed as a biology grad student, insights about my growth and development into a professional scientist, and how I deal with problems science and my worldview have in their interactions with personal life and the rest of the world. On the lighter side of things, we can communicate with each other about whatever we want. I hope that you will enjoy your connection with This View of Life. - JB