"There is no disaster greater than contempt for the enemy, contempt for the enemy -what a treasure is lost!" (69). This passage reminds me of a passage I read in my history of Jamestown class. We just read an account by Archer, a gentleman and reporter for George Percy. I had at once thought that the Indians were savage and violent people. According to Archer, however, the Indians were accepting and had an initial positive reception of the English. The Indians hoped the English would form a military alliance with them against the other warring Indian tribes. When the Indians began attacking the English, it was more of a test of strength than a goal of massacre. The Indians wanted to scare the English, not necessarily hurt them. Even though the English and Indians of Jamestown had skirmishes and battles, there was respect and alliance between them.

"This world has no need for weapons, which soon turn on themselves...The most fruitful outcome does not depend on force..." (30). This quote reminds me of Rosa Parks. I'm sure we are all familiar with her story. This black woman became famous for making huge advances for colored people in America using civil rights activism. Rosa Parks was a passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. When asked to stand in order for white passengers to sit, Rosa Parks decided to make a stand for herself. Rosa had been sitting in the colored section for a long time, and these new white passengers that entered the bus should not have had any more rights than her. Instead of using violence or raising her voice, Rosa Parks simply refused to rise from her seat. Civil disobedience is a concept that Tao would agree with. According to wikipedia, civil disobedience is "the active refusal to obey certain laws, demands and commands of a government or of an occupying power without resorting to physical violence." Rosa Parks made a difference for herself and all African Americans of her time without using violence. Sometimes, peaceful measures are more effective than violence actions.

Today I spent another twenty minutes on the patio in front of the library. Again, the sun shone brightly and there was a light breeze. I noticed the same things I had yesterday: the wind made ripples in the water, the ducks, swans, and storks gathered by the bank. Yet, today was different. I tried to not think like Darwin, which was a relief considering thinking scientifically is not the way I think. I tried to absorb my surroundings in the way a follower of Tao would. How would a follower of Tao see the world? I tried to empty my mind of all thoughts and feelings. I felt the Sun beat down on my head and warm my body. I felt the warm breeze rustle my hair. Tao says, "Respect the world as yourself: The world can be your lodging. Love the world as yourself: The world can be your trust" (13). How comforting it was to sit in stillness and in silence. How refreshing it was to just "be." Sitting there, having nothing to think about, although it was a challenge, happened to be one of the most rejuvenating exercises I have ever attempted.

Today I took about twenty minutes between classes to just sit. I sat on the patio in front of the library in a chair. I thought, "If I were Darwin, what would I look for in my surroundings?" I noticed at first the wind. I could feel the wind on my skin, rustle through the trees, and make currents in the lake. Does the wind have a purpose? Where does this invisible force come from? What does the wind affect? Dispersal comes to mind. The wind transports seeds as a method of procreation. Wind creates currents too. Looking at the water I noticed the ducks, swans, and even a stork grazing by the bank. How could all three bird species coexist? They must occupy different niches, perhaps they even have a mutualistic relationship. Sexual selection came to mind. The male ducks have green heads and the female ducks are fully brown. Does each bird species have a different mating ritual? Why do they all just hang out together?

I'm not sure I will ever think like Darwin, nor I am i sure that I will ever become fully interested in the topics that fascinated Darwin. I do know that taking a second to look at my surroundings did pose a lot of questions. Science is a powerful force, and evolution and natural selection are processes that are at work everyday and since the beginning of time.

Tao Te Ching Lao-Tzu

"Excessive food, extraneous activity inspire disgust. Therefore, the follower of Tao Moves on" (24).

It is funny how the message in America in 2007 is everything but this Tao principle. Right away, I thought of the movie Supersize Me. In this documentary on how Americans have become obese because of their excessive eating habits and the oversized food portions fast food joints offer, it is easy to see just how far we have strayed from moderation. Americans have learned to do everything to excess. Not only is obesity on the rise but binge drinking is as well. Americans have grown up to the mantra "bigger is better." The American mindset is to always want more. I wonder if our nation would be healthier and more content if children grew up hearing Tao's words instead of listening to the media. Whatever happened to "less is more" and "be happy with what you have?"

"Music affects every emotion...It awakens the gentler feelings of tenderness and love, which readily pass into devotion. It likewise stirs up in us the sensation of triumph and the glorious ardour for war...We can concentrate...greater intensity of feeling in a single musical note than in pages of writing...Love is still the commonest theme of our songs...music "arouses dormant sentiments of which we had not conceived the possibility, and do not know the meaning...tells us of things we have not seen and shall not see" (272).

I love this passage. Music can be therapeutic, uplifting, inspirational, and cathartic. Even without words, the strength of a melody can be life-altering. You cannot see music; it is not tangible. Yet, music affects humans and almost all organisms in great ways. It is also interesting that love is the most common theme. Birds use melodies as courtship rituals. Humans similarly are moved by "love songs." In a book as dry and hard to get through as The Descent of Man, I found this passage touching and thought-provoking. Music is a source of passion.

The Descent of Man

"We can see from the way his argument is formulated that Darwin realized that culture tended to mute the action of selection in that, most particularly, morality demanded that the strong help the weak survive. The sorry state of the social world led him to observe that "the vicious members of society increase faster than the virtuous..." (241).

How interesting that the most "moral" and "virtuous" humans are the ones that defy natural selection. Here in America, we have programs like well-fare and social security. We have soup kitchens for the hungry and orphanages for the parentless. In the African safari, lions chase the gazelles as prey. This relationship is considered mutualistic in that the gazelles feed the lions, and the lions only prey on the weakest gazelles, making the herd stronger. Humans are at the top of the food chain. There is no being to weed out the weak from the strong. Humans strive to make the weak stronger, not make the race stronger.