Complexity Digest 2009.04 - 02.01

2009/02/13

Dear friends:

It has been a week since Gottfried left us. Over the past week, I received many warm letters and caring words from all over the world. Although I still could not help having tears covered my face every time I read these letters, I am very grateful to not only the local community, but also the worldwide friends who provided our family with strength and support during this difficult time.

Gottfried was born and educated in Germany (Europe), his complexity career was flourished in US (America), and he chose to spend his last 10 years in Taiwan (Asia) with Stefanie and I, and he will forever rest in the north coast of Taiwan looking over the Pacific ocean.

There will be a simple ceremony before his remains bebing cremated on Feburary 6, and a formal memorial service will be held on Feburary 13 at the Taipei American School. There is a group of grad students from NTNU working on a photo presentation of the life of Gottfried. We will very much appreciate it if you have any phtos of/with Gottfried that you could share with us.
Thanks again for all you friends.

Yeou-Teh (09/02/02)

Darwin 200: The other strand, Nature Bookmark and Share

Editor's Note: This article discusses cultural evolution, and how genes are not sufficient to understand how humanity evolved.
Excerpt: Barely a decade after Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, he and his long-time correspondent Alfred Russel Wallace were engaged in a fierce debate. Darwin said that natural selection had shaped the human species just like any other. But Wallace disagreed, arguing that selection alone could not account for the exceptional capabilities of the human mind. "How could natural selection, or survival of the fittest in the struggle for existence, at all favour the development of mental powers so entirely removed from the material necessities of savage men?"