Bacon and Darwin

 

Bacon uses the world "idol" with a different meaning behind it. He claims that idol is an error made in society. We get the errors from ourselves, culture, false teachings, etc. I do not think the term "idol" suits this well at all. When I think of "idol," I think of something positive. An idol is something you look to for what you want to be like or look like.  

 

Bacon’s uses the word “idol” meaning that these are the false images in which a person has an error; they idols are errors in man.  We have the tribal idol that symbolizes our natural human errors as a group. The idols of the cave being our own errors that arise from our own minds and the idol of the marketplace represents errors that come from others; a marketplace idol is like hearing something false from someone and telling others of it, sort of like a rumor. I believe that the least severe idol is the idol of the tribe; we constantly come up with new information as to not base it on what the whole human race is doing. The most severe idols are the idols of the marketplace and idols of the theatre.   

 

The idols that are the result of social intercourse are those of the tribe and marketplace. The idols that are the result of individual reflection are the idols of the cave and theatre. If a person were restricted in society, they would be even more trapped with the idols. Although we would not have society to give us false information and error, we could not correct ourselves if we were ignorant to the information at hand. We would be exposed to more of the idols of the cave. Therefore, a hermit would not be completely free of the idols, not only this but they would be ignorant in all facts. Socialization is always good, this how we learn street smarts and instinct. People who travel know more, and people who are around other people are more knowledgeable as well. 

 

"Survival of the fittest" means that only the strong survive, not the weak. The weak die off because of their inability to survive such as malnourishment or diseases. An example that illustrates this is kittens. A few may die because they didn't get fed enough by the mother. 

 

When breeding animals in natural selection, you get to choose the specific traits you would like in the offspring. For example, if you are breeding horses and you want the best offspring for racing, you are going to choose and male and female who have good muscle and have good standings in the races that they participated in. Natural selection is more important because it is indeed more efficient in my opinion. 

 

Darwin would have liked the idea of cloning. It allows humans to be stronger and to inherit certain traits that they want them to have. I feel like cloning is similar to natural selection because you want the best of the best. However, they are not the same concepts. 

 

Medicine and welfare agencies are not causing humans to be less fit. I believe that rather than them being less fit, they are aiming at making them better and to be stronger.