How often misused words generate misleading thoughts.
Herbert Spencer
Should have listened to your own advice, Herbert.
Song of the day is from a movie soundtrack. La Cité des Enfants Perdus (The City of Lost Children) is a movie in which dreams of children are stolen. Goes together well with Social Darwinism, don't you think.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Survival of the fittest
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2 can write as well as read:
I hadn't heard of Herbert Spencer (or maybe forgot that I had), but certainly know the concept of survival of the fittest. It's a disturbing view of society, and a distortion of Darwin, at least as I understand it.
City of Lost Children is a beautiful film, and the song is definitely well chosen. I'll have to watch it again in the context of Herbert Spencer. Thanks for getting my thoughts flowing this morning :).
Yep, some seem to think that calling Spencer a Darwinist of any kind is all wrong, but then again a lot of Social Darwinists claim him as their own. Darwin apparently liked the phrase.
I don't really have a problem with Spencer, he was child of his own time. It's the later use of the phrase that bothers me.
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