Natural selection may lead to benefits for species, but these `higher' advantages can only arise as sequelae, or side consequences, of natural selection's causal mechanism: differential reproductive success of individuals.

Human life is the result of a glorious evolutionary accident.

No rational order of divine intelligence unites species. The natural ties are genealogical along contingent pathways of history.

Always be suspicious of conclusions that reinforce uncritical hope and follow comforting traditions of Western thought.

Evolution is a process of constant branching and expansion.

The journalistic tradition so exalts novelty and flashy discovery, as reputable and newsworthy, that standard accounts for the public not only miss the usual activity of science but also, and more unfortunately, convey a false impression about what drives research.

Transitional forms are generally lacking at the species level, but they are abundant between larger groups.