Time vs. Newsweek on Darwin

Time magazine recently featured the evolution wars. At the same time, Newsweek highlighted new research into infants' minds. It's too bad no one wrote about the connection between the two.

People are social creatures. We can't help it. It's why we survived millions of years being chased by beats on the savanna, and how we managed to have mastodon burgers for dinner. One guy couldn't fight off a sabertooth tiger or bring down a hairy elephant, but a bunch could. And did. And those who did lived to pass on the tendency to their survivors.

So the first thing any babe needs to do to survive is locate and connect with their caregivers. Those who do this well survive. Those who don't, don't. So the trait survives in the species. Evolution at work.

This is really obvious when you see infants at work. My son didn't mind being held by others as a baby. As long as I or his momma or aunt were nearby. He'd look up at the stranger holding him, then look over to make sure a familiar face was nearby, and he was fine. Just insuring his defense, if needed. Again, evolution at work. Those babes who didn't keep the first line of defense on hand didn't survive, and didn't pass it on.

After a time, my son started to squirm and cry in the stranger's arms. "He misses his dad", they'd say. "No, he's sleepy", I said. "Just watch." Sure, within minutes of coming back to me, he was sound asleep. "How'd you know that?", they'd ask. "Simple. Sleeping is when a child is most vulnerable. He might sit in a stranger's arms and be fine, but he'd be durned if he was dozing off with someone who might not rise to the occasion if a saber-toothed tiger threatens him. He'd cry if he woke up from a nap and didn't see anyone. All I had to do to calm him would call from the next room, to let him know his parents were near. He'd stop and start cooing. Didn't need to see us, just know that we were near in case the hyenas came along. Again ...

This isn't to say that we're just critters, or as some have said, "monkeys with car key." Alone of all the beasts on the Earth, people can wonder. We can look up at the sky and wonder where all the stars come from and what they do up there. Without scientific knowledge, people created astrology, because we knew there had to be a reason for all that up there.

And the universe, through whatever agency, had to create people. After all, why have such endless splendor if there were no one around to wonder about it all? It would be highly illogical, to quote a well-known Vulcan, for it be otherwise.