Long before Darwin set out on his voyage of discovery aboard the H.M.S. Beagle in the 1830s, Amerigo Vespucci traveled along the coasts of the New World, where, like Darwin, he recorded observations about the flora and fauna. The early sixteenth-century explorer disembarked, as Darwin did, to see previously unknown plants and animals, and he marveled at the numbers and variety of both.
Writing about his observations, Vespucci said, ”We saw so many other animals that I believe so many species could not have entered Noah’s ark.” He made that comment in 1502, 357 years before Darwin published its logical conclusion. We now think Earth houses a trillion species, including millions of animal species, and we know that no aircraft carrier or supertanker could hold and sustain all, even for a short period. Plus, we know that we could not remove many species from their ecological niches without killing them.
With the advantage of almost four centuries of exploration, experimentation, and discovery by hundreds, if not thousands, of others behind him, including Vespucci, Darwin had an intellectual heritage that Amerigo lacked. Amerigo also explored in an age before Galileo was put in house arrest for challenging long held beliefs. Darwin, though derided and condemned by certain groups, did not suffer the restraints of an Inquisition, surely a fate Vespucci might have faced had he declared the story of the ark a false narrative. Yet, Amerigo did mention that the story of the ark was hard to believe in light of his observations.
Is there a lesson in this? Maybe not, but surely an observation about our own times: All of us have hints of truth that we don’t pursue to their logical conclusion for various reasons, such as deeply held beliefs, superstitions, and social compliance. So, the next time you have an insight, ask yourself if it has meaning outside your social and cultural heritage. You don’t have the luxury of waiting 357 years to pursue and reach a valid conclusion. You could be standing in a New World looking in the face of a new paradigm.
Writing about his observations, Vespucci said, ”We saw so many other animals that I believe so many species could not have entered Noah’s ark.” He made that comment in 1502, 357 years before Darwin published its logical conclusion. We now think Earth houses a trillion species, including millions of animal species, and we know that no aircraft carrier or supertanker could hold and sustain all, even for a short period. Plus, we know that we could not remove many species from their ecological niches without killing them.
With the advantage of almost four centuries of exploration, experimentation, and discovery by hundreds, if not thousands, of others behind him, including Vespucci, Darwin had an intellectual heritage that Amerigo lacked. Amerigo also explored in an age before Galileo was put in house arrest for challenging long held beliefs. Darwin, though derided and condemned by certain groups, did not suffer the restraints of an Inquisition, surely a fate Vespucci might have faced had he declared the story of the ark a false narrative. Yet, Amerigo did mention that the story of the ark was hard to believe in light of his observations.
Is there a lesson in this? Maybe not, but surely an observation about our own times: All of us have hints of truth that we don’t pursue to their logical conclusion for various reasons, such as deeply held beliefs, superstitions, and social compliance. So, the next time you have an insight, ask yourself if it has meaning outside your social and cultural heritage. You don’t have the luxury of waiting 357 years to pursue and reach a valid conclusion. You could be standing in a New World looking in the face of a new paradigm.
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