Darwin Day

The following is from Congressman Rush Holt's newsletter:

No one could have known it at the time, but February 12, 1809 was a turning point in the story of human progress. On that day, Abraham Lincoln was born in a one-room log cabin in Kentucky – and across the Atlantic, Charles Darwin was born into a doctor’s family in the United Kingdom.

Many states, including New Jersey, have long established a holiday to recognize Lincoln’s birthday and to honor his contributions to equality, freedom, and progress. We would do equally well to establish a ceremonial Darwin Day, as I have proposed in Congress.

Through his work, Darwin discovered that the drive for survival of each species produces an evolution by natural selection. Without his recognition that natural selection enables increasing complexity, our comprehension of the world around us would be vastly poorer. But to me Charles Darwin represents much more than a discovery or a theory. He represents a way of thinking, a philosophy. It was his thirst for knowledge and his scientific approach that enabled him to uncover the theory of evolution. This lesson is as valuable as the discovery he made and the explanations he gave.

We should continue to celebrate Darwin as a master of clear, evidence-based thinking. Legislators would do well to emulate his vision and his thinking, and we would all benefit from more people thinking like scientists.


“The Encouragement of Literature, Etc.”

Earlier this week, I spent time with David McCullough, the author of the authoritative biography of John Adams. Several years after helping to write our Declaration of Independence, Adams wrote the constitution of Massachusetts in 1779. In the article entitled “The Encouragement of Literature, Etc.,” that constitution speaks of the duty of public officials under the social and government contract:

“Wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people, being necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties; and as these depend on spreading the opportunities and advantages of education in the various parts of the country, and among the different orders of the people, it shall be the duty of legislatures and magistrates, in all future periods of this commonwealth, to cherish the interests of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries of them; especially the university at Cambridge, public schools and grammar schools in the towns; to encourage private societies and public institutions, rewards and immunities, for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and a natural history of the country; to countenance and inculcate the principles of humanity and general benevolence, public and private charity, industry and frugality, honesty and punctuality in their dealings; sincerity, good humor, and all social affections, and generous sentiments, among the people.”

Sincerely,

Rush Holt
Member of Congress