The world itself might have been generated, rather than created: that is, it might have been gradually produced from very small beginnings, increasing by the activity of it’s inherent principles, rather than by a sudden evolution of the whole by the almighty fiat. What a magnificent idea of the infinite power of the Great Architect! The cause of causes! Parent of parents! Ens Entium! For if we may compare infinities, it would seem to require a greater infinity of power to cause the causes of effects, than to cause the effects themselves.
Erasmus Darwin (Charles Darwin’s Grandfather) – The Temple of Nature: or, the Origin of Society in 1803 via Darwin in the Machines via Alison Maloney… thanks
Written by Mauricio Balvanera
Topics: rants