Evolution: From Biology to Culture   I am a staunch believer in evolution. I find the simultaneous intricacies and complexities of the theory beautiful, interesting, and ultimately meaningful. The precision and near perfection of evolution, along with many other biological processes, is itself powerfully awe-inspiring enough to make it easy for me to find meaning in the ideas. However, in the previous discussion, I also had no trouble identifying with Tennyson’s struggle to reconcile our nature and our spirituality – I too have wrestled with the question of our place in the universe and what purpose we can derive from the many “burning fears/…baths of hissing tears/ …[and] shocks of doom” (Tennyson 254) that make up our lives as human beings. Because even though I can appreciate the beauty of biology and the theory of evolution, it’s difficult to see how the theory and science affect my life directly. I always understand it in a context a step removed from my own. In our modern world, with technology, medicine, and human ingenuity as the main force driving us onward instead of our genes and survival skills, it’s difficult to see the theory of evolution as having much weight in our present situation. People with diseases that would be lethal in nature survive through developments in medicine, and even people with evolutionary disadvantages like bad eyesight can thrive given advances in technology. In a sense, even though evolution is still present in our current context (such as people in areas where malaria is present developi ng a mild form of sickle cell anemia, which makes them less prone to infection), it is not the driving force. Instead, the majority of our actions and developments are driven by a different but equally strong power – our culture. Perhaps we have shifted from developing biologically to developing culturally. Now that the dictations of our genes are silenced by medicine and technology, we are free instead to take cues from the society around us. It is this transition from biological to cultural evolution that allows me to synthesize a belief in evolution and an experience of spirituality in nature. In a sense, I am able to hold evolution and spirituality in nature together while keeping them apart. I see biological evolution as something that has occurred mainly in the past. Obviously, it is still occurring today but it is not as powerful or direct as our cultural evolution. Through the development of our culture, we as humans are able to move beyond a basic struggle to survive and can find purpose and meaning in other areas of our lives. Nature is one place where I find meaning, as I have often been captivated by the beauty and order in it. I spent most of my time growing up outside and I still feel a sense of awe and peace when I spend time outside. I feel that I have often found a sort of spirituality in my relationship with nature, similar to Wordsworth’s description in his poem “Michael.” The character in the story has “a pleasurable feeling of blind love,” (266, E603A anthology). Nature becomes like a friend to be loved dearly, and, as Wordsworth notes, the pleasure we take from our relationships and affections both for our friends and the world around us is “the pleasure which there is in life itself” (266). Personally, I know that much of the meaning I derive from my life comes from my relationships with people and my understanding and appreciation of the world around me. Furthermore, the beauty and order in nature from which I can derive meaning is intimately intertwined with evolution, so it is easy for me to synthesize the two.