The idea of decimation as a lottery converts.... : Quote by Stephen Jay Gould

“ The idea of decimation as a lottery converts the new iconography of the Burgess Shale into a radical view about the pathways of life and the nature of history. ... May our poor and improbable species find joy in its new-found fragility and good fortune! Wouldn't anyone with the slightest sense of adventure, or the most weakly flickering respect for intellect, gladly exchange the old cosmic comfort for a look at something so weird and wonderful - yet so real - as *Opabinia*? ”

Stephen Jay Gould
  • From : Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History
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