Shortly after the British naturalist, Charles Darwin, published his theory of evolution, a

Victorian lady was asked what she thought of the idea that humans and animals were descended from a common ancestor. "Let us hope it is not true," she said. (46)

This story is probably apocryphal, but it illustrates well the attitudes of the time. (47) Many people accept Darwin's view of how we came into being that our bodies evolved through the process of natural selection acting on our genes.

However, Darwin believed evolution was responsible for far more than just our physical characteristics. He saw it as the major influence in shaping our psychology. In- deed, he predicted that "in the distant future, psychology will be based on a new foundation". (48)

To proponents of concepts like free will and personal responsibility, such an idea seems absurd. (49) Their research has revealed increasing evidence that the human mind is made up of innate mechanisms, which control everything from the way we perceive time and space, to how we learn survival techniques and choose mates.

(50) Steven Pinker, Professor of Cognitive Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, likens language ability to computer software, "children learn a new word every 90 minutes of their waking life for years, then they have to figure out how to string them together using a kind of mental computer program. The essence of human language is the ability to convey new ideas by putting words together in different combinations. Since we all have this language 'software' in our minds, we can figure out what others are saying by the meanings of the words and the order in which they are arranged."

A. Today, we are more comfortable with out past.

B. "And, if it is true, let us hope it does not become public knowledge."

C. But a growing number of scientists are questioning the extent to which our behavior. is controlled by our culture.

D. Many people are calling for controls on cloning immedicte1y before the practice is abused.

E. The foundation was, of course, his theory of evolution.

F. Nowhere is this more obvious than our innate ability to learn languages.

(46)