Eugenics And Social Darwinism

1362 Words6 Pages
The public has reacted to scientific and technological developments with both a sense of fear and enthusiasm. Darwin’s theory of evolution was met with both fear and enthusiasm once it was finally got a reaction. The “science” of eugenics and social Darwinism were strangely met with enthusiasm from the public. Eugenics and social Darwinism were both promoted using fear. The science of energy and thermodynamics was met with enthusiasm because of the improvements it was making for industry. The application of physics to nuclear weapons promoted and caused fear. The explosion of the atomic bombs sent fear throughout the world. The human genome project was not met with much fear or enthusiasm; it tried to promote neutrality on the subject. Darwin’s…show more content…
The scientist that promoted Social Darwinism used fear of diversity to further their theories such as eugenics. Herbert Spencer coined the term “survival of the fittest” to argue for natural selection in society (Ruswick, lecture 20). There is also the fear of the “swamping of our paint pot” as stated by Fleeming Jenkin (Ruswick, lecture 19). The scientists also promoted the enthusiasm of the public to confirm their social situations. There were changes in the class system in America with reconstruction and people were able to use social Darwinism to back up their claims of superiority to other classes and races. The fear of “swamping” motivated people to use social Darwinism as an excuse to stop giving to charity, change court decisions and reinforce opinions of racism (Ruswick, lecture…show more content…
Scientists were working with theories of the speed of light and the “stuff” of the cosmos or ether (Ruswick, lecture 23). Scientists were trying to figure out how light moved through the universe, most thought of it as a particle moving through a medium (Ruswick, lecture 23). If light was a particle moving through ether than it should have had a variable speed as the earth was also moving (Ruswick, lecture 23). The Michelson and Morley experiment proved that the speed of light was constant; this disproved an ether (Ruswick, lecture 23). But fear of throwing away old theories for new led to the rejection of Michelson and Morley’s experiment not the ether theory (Ruswick, lecture 23). The same fear of letting go of the old made it difficult for people to accept Einstein’s theories of
Open Document