{"id":5117,"date":"2020-02-05T05:00:38","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T13:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=5117"},"modified":"2020-02-02T12:55:56","modified_gmt":"2020-02-02T20:55:56","slug":"mark-reads-the-science-of-discworld-iv-chapter-14-part-ii-chapter-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2020\/02\/mark-reads-the-science-of-discworld-iv-chapter-14-part-ii-chapter-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads &#8216;The Science of Discworld IV&#8217; &#8211; Chapter 14, Part II \/ Chapter 15"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the fourteenth and fifteenth chapters of <i>Judgment Day<\/i>, I learn an important distinction, and the tribunal begins. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read <i>Discworld<\/i>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Okay, so I remembered something I learned back when I was in school, and the opening part of this split immediately destroyed it. So, I referenced this a bit on video, but I was taught that the main difference between Darwin and Lamarck was in how they saw evolution happening. I distinctly recall the use of the long neck of the giraffe as a demonstration of Lamarck\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s theory: that features could be directly passed on to offspring. In particular, because the neck of the giraffe somehow got longer, the giraffe passed that on to their offspring, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how evolution occurred. Granted, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a TERRIBLE summary of it, but the basic idea is there: if a new skill or physiological feature is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153acquired,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d then it is passed on to offspring. The blacksmith example the authors use is much better at explaining this. Thus, Lamarck was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wrong\u00e2\u20ac\u009d about his theory, and now we accept Darwin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s theory of natural selection.<\/p>\n<p>Except then this book makes a brilliant case for that not quite describing anything, and there <i>is<\/i> an element to Lamarck\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s theory that manages to get closer to what actually happens. As the authors put it:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6the old distinction between Lamarck and Darwin has lost its power to distinguish technical from organic evolution.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And then we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re given the dual examples of the okapi and the plecs, AND MY MIND WAS BLOWN. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I love getting to learn shit like this. So, Lamarck\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s theory had some basis in truth, as changed animal behavior can become the <i>root<\/i> of an evolutionary change. Exaptation! I learned a thing! The same goes for the example using VHS tapes and Betamax to explain that evolution doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t always follow a predictable path. Again:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>As in natural ecologies, it often happens that a less-adapted, often foreign, invader exploits the ecosystem more effectively, forcing the demise of well-established local species.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I bet each of us has heard of this happening in our lifetimes; I know that one such invasion occurred near the wildlife preserve where I grew up. The invader? <i>Bamboo<\/i>. There were these massive, incredibly dense groves of BAMBOO near the Santa Ana River that constantly had to be cut back because they so quickly overgrew the area and threatened the entire ecosystem. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think a near-desert climate in Southern California was the perfect place for bamboo to grow, but it THRIVED. I will say that will I loved this point, I think the parallel between the grey squirrel and Spanish conquistadors was\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 ill-made? Like, I get that the authors were trying to say that both \u00e2\u20ac\u0153invaders\u00e2\u20ac\u009d carried diseases that killed indigenous life, but there was a more purposeful and intentional destruction on the part of the Spanish here. The analogy falls apart real quick once you examine it.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Anyway, otherwise: the science chapter here was a lot of fun. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what potoroos were either, so hello to THAT cute creature that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now a new favorite. Seriously, I watched a bunch of YouTube videos about them before I wrote this review, and now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m certain my video recommendations are all going to be animal videos. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m okay with that.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, it was a treat that the Discworld chapter ended up being just as exciting (perhaps more!) as the science chapter. (It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to compete with potoroos, so bravo.) Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, THE TRIBUNAL HAS STARTED. And now, the initial arguments of the plaintiffs have been made, and lord, I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ready for this. First, though, I do love that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re getting so much of Vetinari in this book. His appearance here places him in between genuine interest and annoyance. He is intrigued by the arguments that are going to be made, but he also realizes that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not really anything criminal going on here, so the whole thing is a bit perplexing. But also: HE GETS A GAVEL. I would also like to have the power of a gavel someday.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Once this begins\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 oh, I should have seen this coming. All of the time spent discussing the origin and shape of our world has come to fruition, because as it turns out, the Omnians (at least this more recent incarnation of them) believe that the Discworld is actually round and that it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t rest on elephants standing on the back of a turtle. It does not matter that people have seen the creatures with their own two eyes, or that countless people have been to the Rim and ostensibly seen the water spilling over the side. It does not matter that there is evidence to the contrary. The Reverend Mister Stackpole has his ideas about the universe, and they are right, and clearly, it is absurd to assume otherwise. As far as I can tell, he has no interest in compromise, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s certainly not willing to even entertain the notion that he might be wrong about\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, anything.<\/p>\n<p>Granted, we only get the plaintiff\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s opening remarks, but I am guessing this trial is going to visit a lot of the same misconceptions and faulty logic that the authors discussed in the science section. And I also don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to work. Something tells me that Vetinari isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to take too kindly to being told that the evidence of the Disc being flat is wrong.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/youtu.be\/GuXDTSRKp20<\/p>\n<p><b>Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markoshiro.com\/blog\/2019\/5\/7\/the-anger-is-a-gift-trade-paperback-is-out-today\">The paperback edition of my debut, ANGER IS A GIFT, is now OUT!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><strong>If you&#8217;d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, <a href=\"http:\/\/eepurl.com\/ey636\">sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the fourteenth and fifteenth chapters of Judgment Day, I learn an important distinction, and the tribunal begins. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[451],"tags":[463,248,564],"class_list":["post-5117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-terry-pratchett","tag-the-science-of-discworld-4"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5117\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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