David Loye

Rediscovering Darwin

Hailed as a breakthrough in 12 pages of pre-publication reviews by leading evolutionary thinkers, a new book is being rushed into print for impact in the wake of both the honoring and the dishonoring of Darwin's 209th birthday on February 12. Rediscovering Darwin: The Rest of Darwin's Theory and Why We Need it Today weaves three gripping stories into a compelling single account. First a new perspective on the startling discovery of the long-buried rest of Darwin's theory of evolution. Then the mystery of how and why it was lost for over 100 years. And now--in the sharp contrast between the recovered rest of Darwin and the worst of Trump and friends--the urgent need for an update in theory and social action. Haunting in similarity to the threat of nuclear annihilation we face today, Rediscovering Darwin opens during the tension of the Cold War. With the mindset of "survival of the fittest" driving the U.S. and Russia toward nuclear oblivion, a handful of scientists from both sides meet secretly in Budapest. Psychologist and evolutionary systems scientist David Loye--there from the U.S. side, and author of this book--takes us into the still little known story of how, in a world desperate for order out of chaos, they decided to see if they could use chaos theory to replace "survival of the fittest" with a better theory of evolution. In haunting contrast to what became the Darwin of "survival of the fittest,""selfish genes," and now the manic rampage of "winners versus losers," an internationally expanding advance research group found five factors to "speed the evolution of our species" in the"lost" rest of Darwin's theory. The five were and are: Darwin's long-ignored higher-order understanding of sex. His scientifically pioneering exploration of the fundamental drive of love. Same for the global bond of community. How in tune with Jesus in religion and Immanuel Kant in philosophy-- calling selfishness a "base principle" accounting for "the low morality of savages"-- he capped his theory with the drive of the moral sense as primary in evolution. Here too was and is the shock of Darwin's long-ignored case for spirituality and the place and function of the positive teachings of religion in evolution. Even the surprise of how, in what he wrote of "the morality of women," Darwin became a cautious forerunner of male support for the women's movement. Stage by stage, Rediscovering Darwin shows how, beginning in the 19th century then spanning the 20th into the 21st century, the rest of Darwin was wiped off the slate of history-- but is now being reclaimed by a rising alliance of scientists and social activists. In vivid portraits in this book one can meet-- and get to know and join --Darwin's new heirs and heiresses opening the way to a better future for our battered species and planet.