Morgan County republican., 1913-05-15
Published by request.
assisted Evolution
Mr.. Edis0n's Theory.


accuracy Of his theory of evolution has,
I think, been perfectly established. but.
perhaps. there may be more behind it all
thsn even he quite realized. 4 coasts
discoverer may be ignorant Of mountain
chains inland. I believe in evolution,
absolutely, but in assisted evolution. We
have studied many Of the finer problems
Of mechanics very deeply in this labora.
tory. Some extremely clever men have
helped me work. and all Of us have
watched with care and what we think
is understanding the work of all the
other clever men who have been work.
ing elsewhere.
We have tried to reduce the phenom-
ena Of nature down to mechanics, pure
and simple, but have found multitude
of things Of which mechanics. unassisted
seem to be incapable. The human ear,
for instance. illustrates this fact, and the
human ear is no more wonderful than
the dogs ear. or any other ear; the eye
is still more wonderful. If that is possible,
but have not investigated sight as
have the phenomena of hearing.
The theory Of evolution fails to explain
these matters satisfactorily. cannot
feel convinced that evolution the mere
passage. by development. of organism
from lower into higher forms-could
have resulted in the marvellous perfec-
ton of such wondrous mechanisms as
the ear and eye. Our monographs are
perfect as machines, and our phonograph
Is far, far from the almost perfection
OF the human ear and tongue. The
more accurate we make our copy, the
better are results, for we humans have
originated very little really.
lndsed, almost all our so. called great
i1venfions are mere attempts to initiate
the things which nature has already
done. and done much better than the
best Of us can do. We have accomplished
some small things toward utilizing
| natures forces, but we have not, in the
entire history of our endeavor, created
one new force.
Evolution will not, to my IN ind,
entirely explain the wondrous facts of
nature. With all our clev erness We can
not duplicate the marvels of even the
lowest forms Of life. and we are really
clever. Therefore, | believe in a su.
preme intelligence. but IN the gods of the
rehgions-no!
We are clever and are moving forward
slowly. The best part of progression is
that part which finds the false and then
discards it. We cannot yet the truth
without first thowing out the false The
decline of the religions is part Of that
essential process.
We are machines. Machines are gov.
erned bv unaltersble laws. But this
worship of an individual God. all this
creedism and theology i, wrong. There
is no human individual except the celll
and of the cell we know but little.
The brain is what loose thinkers have
mistaken for the soul, and the brain is
but an aggregate of cells. Accident
can take from it. disease can sicken it
aud ruin it. surgery can take from it and
add to it. 1t is q mere machine, the
highest type Of all mach ines, but still a
mere machine.
| The sooner this fact is accepted and
used as the foundation of investigation.
the sooner will the mysteries Of the uni
verse be solved. If ever, by mankind.
Study along the lines which the theo.
logies have mapped will never lead us to
discovery of the fundamental facts Of
our existence. That goal mus, he attain.
ed by means OF exact science and can
only Ike achieved by such means.
| s~ss
| The fact that man, for ages, has super.
stitiously believed in what he calls a
God does not prove at all that his theory
has been right There have been many
gods-all makesh,fts. born Of inability
to fathom the deep fundamental truth.
There must he something at the bottom
OF existence, and man, in ignorance,
being unable to discover what It is
through reason, because his reason has
been 80 imperfect. uudeveloped. has
used, instead, imagination. and created
6gments, of one kind or another, which,
according to the country he was born
in the suggestions of his environment,
satisfied him for the time Icing. Not