History Memes

Explanation: Ibn Khaldun was a 14th century AD Muslim writer in North Africa. He wrote a number of works which are very interesting for their contributions to social science, which was, before Ibn Khaldun, a field which had received very little interest since Classical antiquity. But in this meme his scientific thought takes center stage - he formulated an early theory of evolution. While not the first, not even the first in Islamic scholarship, it is notable for the prominence of the thinker and how close the general thrust of the idea is to modern ideas of evolution.

Even when I have tried to put myself in a creationist's shoes, creationism never made sense to me. Why limit God's creative scope to a one-and-done event? Certainly it's conceivable that He might produce complex, dynamic systems that are difficult for us to model, let alone understand. And He might have made design decisions for reasons that are not obvious to our limited intellects. I feel like a religious person would be doing honor to their God by doing science, exploring and learning, and taking the time to be awestruck at the things they discover.