Darwin Fish
The Darwin fish is an ichthys symbol with "evolved" legs and feet attached and often with the word Darwin inside (like the ΙΧΘΥΣ or Jesus found in some Christian versions). It symbolizes the scientific theory of evolution, for which Charles Darwin laid the foundation, in contrast with Creationism, which is often associated with Christianity. The Darwin fish bears a stylized resemblance to Ichthyostega, which is a major example of a transitional fossil. Related to the Darwin fish is a fish with legs, the word 'evolve', and a hand that is holding a wrench.
Rhetorical scholar Thomas Lessl has conducted a questionnaire survey of users of the Darwin fish emblem. Based on their responses, he interprets the symbol as scientific "blackface," a parody that is one part mockery and one part imitation. While users frequently explain the symbol as a rebuke against Creationism, Lessl suggests that the emblem represents a metaphor for cultural progress.
The Darwin fish has led to competition among bumper stickers. A design was made with a larger "Jesus fish" eating the Darwin fish. Sometimes, the larger fish contains letters that spell the word "Truth." A further step shows two fish, one with legs labelled "I evolved", the other without legs labelled "You didn't". Another variant has a Darwin fish with a mouth, carrying away a smaller, dead Jesus fish by its tail. Yet another variant is the "ixnay" fish (from the Pig Latin for "nix", and punning on ΙΧΘΥΣ). Other variants depict an "Evolution" or "Darwin" fish swallowing an "ΙΧΘΥΣ", "Jesus" or "Truth" fish; another version has a "Science" fish swallowing a "Myth" fish.
Read more about this topic: Parodies Of The Ichthys Symbol
Famous quotes containing the words darwin and/or fish:
“Natural selection, the blind, unconscious, automatic process which Darwin discovered, and which we now know is the explanation for the existence and apparently purposeful form of all life, has no purpose in mind. It has no mind and no mind’s eye. It does not plan for the future. It has no vision, no foresight, no sight at all. If it can be said to play the role of the watchmaker in nature, it is the blind watchmaker.”
—Richard Dawkins (b. 1941)
“Little fish swam by his nose
and he noted them and touched their slime.
Plankton came and he held them in his palm
like God’s littlest light bulbs.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)