By Christiaan Perez
The University hosted a series of lectures about Charles Darwin on March 12-14 called Darwin’s Reach: A Celebration of Darwin’s Legacy and Academic Disciplines. Professors from universities all over delivered the lectures and discussed evolutionary theories ranging from physical evolution theories to ideas about mental evolutions.
The conference placed emphasis on distinguishing how Darwin’s theory has found applications in a wide range of fields. Lecture titles included Literature and Darwin, Religion Responds to Evolution, and Ethics and Morality.
One of the panels explored the idea of evolutionary psychology. The panel discussed how evolutionary factors can affect the development of a political environment, both as ideology as well as mode of governance. The first lecture addressed the question of “how can we use evolutionary theory to create and sustain democracy?”
Steffan Blancke, a professor at Ghent University in Ghent, Belgium, started out by challenging a conventional belief regarding mentality by saying that the “human mind is not a blank slate, but evolves with nature.” Just like a filter, Blancke said, “people respond to certain conditions” in their environment more readily. Essentially, he explained that the nature-versus-nurture argument is true, regarding the degree to which the mind is receptive to those influences.
Blancke went on to explain that “we do not want freedom for no reason. [The desire for it] evolved in the mind,” and that this “explains why democracies cannot be forced on unprepared societies, such as Iraq.” Along with the evolved sense of freedom, we are also naturally inclined to hierarchical systems.
“Checks and balances in Constitution demonstrate controlling dominance,” Blancke said.
Another speaker at the same panel was N.J. Banks, an independent scholar from Port Washington. Banks discussed the political instincts of the individual and how environmental conditions can lead to the liberal-conservative divide. Banks said that “there is an inherent political attitude” within all individuals. He added that this is because “different environments favor different attitudes.” This difference is not likely to change as long as environmental conditions remain the same.
On a global scale, liberal tendencies arise from regions with an abundance of resources, Banks said. He also put emphasis on female rights, as one example. Conservative mentalities generally arise from regions with sparse resources, and he said this is because in such regions favor a strong group tie with their own kind in order to compete with resources, and the group is less open to outsiders. Adversely, according to Banks, it is in a liberal’s best interest to interact with as many people as possible in order to develop an efficient market.
Banks then posed the question of “why can’t we evolve to agree on political issues?” Banks outlined that this is largely because “different environments favor different attitudes,” and that the times will alter who has the greatest advantage. This is why the political spectrum has developed a bell curve in which the largest numbers of people remain moderate.
The three days of lectures held a vast store of evolutionary knowledge for students and community members to tap into. for whatever their interest was.

William F. McComas spoke to a crowded lecture hall on Thursday, March 12 at Hofstra University’s Monroe Lecture Center Theater. He gave a speech about common misconceptions and popular ideas on evolution. His Evolution (Francesca Antonacci)