Evolution vs. Harry Potter

[mizaya.livejournal.com]

I'm curious about getting the opinions of all houses for this, so I thought I'd post this here.

I'm writing a paper for school about how the world of Harry Potter and Darwin's theory of evolution could co-mix. Sounds strange, I know, but the topic was to take Darwin's theory and apply it to one of your favourite artistic categories, which for me is obviously Harry Potter.

I'm having a really hard time starting out considering I'm not very well-versed in Darwinian theory, and I'm not entirely sure how to apply it to Harry Potter. Maybe how Muggles way back "evolved" into wizards? How certain "Muggle" creatures were able to evolve into the wizarding animals we know today?

Does anybody have any ideas for possible routes that I could take this?

Comments

[willfully.livejournal.com]

I had a weird theory once about how the electrical gradient often generated on the membrane of living cells could have evolved into some kind of force that could be harnessed as magic using a wand. Because I'm an enormous dork like that. :D But uh. That'd be really complex and biochemical and maybe not where you want to go with this paper.

If you need help with evolutionary theory, though, I am on AIM and incredibly dorky willing to talk about it. 8D

[mizaya.livejournal.com]

I will hit you up on AIM if I can't figure it out! I have some sources to read that might be able to outline it for me, but thank you for the offer.

That's an incredible theory. I'm sure Kaitlin would get a kick out of that. XD. The paper is a little less scientific than that, but any ideas are fantastic, thank you!

[alohachary1851.livejournal.com]

So magical people have different Na/K/ATP-ase pumps?

[willfully.livejournal.com]

Yeah, like, extra super specially strong ones. 8D It all started when I was trying to think about how Avada Kedavra might work - and decided that it could possibly work by getting rid of ALL electrical gradients in the body, which would kill you instantly without leaving any trace (that a normal Muggle coroner would notice, at least). And then I started thinking about how magic appears kind of like an electric force, and how maybe the gradients on cell membranes could cause an extra amount of that kind of energy inside someone to create magic, and so on.

I know, I'm a dork. XD

[http://users.livejournal.com/unnecessary_/]

Darwin believed that we adapt to the environment so you can make a point that because human beings need to be capable of doing more and more in society, that's how we evolved to being able to use magic or become half-animal?

[willfully.livejournal.com]

Needing to be capable of doing more isn't technically an evolutionary pressure, though, unless it was a matter of competing for resources or sexual selection omg, Mihael, talk about magic being a form of sexual selection! PLEASE. Evolving just to be able to do things that are cool or helpful (but not really necessary to make us evolutionarily fit) is more along the lines of Lamarck's theory. 8D

Although, now that I think about it, you could argue that since the majority of people seem to NOT have magic in JKR's universe, it could be something helpful but not necessary for survival/fitness. Sorry, my brain is barely keeping up with me atm. XD

[mizaya.livejournal.com]

I really like the sexual selection idea. Could you tell me more about it?

[semi-subtle.livejournal.com]

OH MAN, SEXUAL SELECTION. DONE AND DONE.

[semi-subtle.livejournal.com]

Think survival of the fittest. Whoever first possessed the genetic mutation that led to, say, an ability to manipulate the environment around himself, would have a better chance of surviving. Even if it all began with something small (and, hypothetically speaking, it probably would have), like being able to control temperatures to a degree for example, then that could save someone from freezing to death.

Darwin believes mutations are pure genetic accident, but they sometimes persist because they provide organisms with better odds of survival. Think the human tailbone - we don't need tails, but perhaps we used to have a them until we kept getting tracked down by predators and caught because of them. Those with shorter tails were less likely to be caught until they disappeared completely. This particular example isn't proven, but that's the general idea. Same could be the case for magic.

But if you want to get a basic starting point, I'd say "subtle manipulation of environment." Whoever first used magic probably wasn't using it for anything too awesome.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_j_e_s_s_i_/]

Well natural selection logically applies to any species. JKR has repeatedly referred to the "wizard gene" and said that it is very dominant, so clearly this indicates that wizards with a strong dominant magical gene. This would originally have been a mutation favorable to the species that proliferated because it was advantageous to their survival, so the ones that survived better and multiplied over time obviously carried that gene. It's clear that a more powerful/dominant magical gene would aid survival in the wizarding world, more magic = more power = better at dueling and such.

We never really know IRL when or why mutations suddenly happen, but that's the beauty of nature. The bad ones keep the populations in check and the good ones strengthen the gene pool.

Jay//Gryffindor

[http://users.livejournal.com/_j_e_s_s_i_/]

OR I COULD COMPLETE MY FIRST SENTENCE?

*So clearly this indicates that wizards with a strong dominant magical gene would be more powerful and thus survive in order to breed more.

A thousand bad darwinian fanfics were just written.

[alohachary1851.livejournal.com]

JKR also said that most muggleborns had a wizarding ancestor very very far back, so either this dominant gene was passed on but not cultivated or there must have been some other gene that was turned on or mutated that suppressed it.

[delorispea.livejournal.com]

Quite frankly Harry Potter does not exist and therefore has nothing to do with science.

[mizaya.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, my professor didn't think of this when he gave the assignment. ;].

The assignment was to compare it to an artistic form, none of which are going to be tangible in that way.

[delorispea.livejournal.com]

I think your Professor is an idiot.


Literature and Science are both huge in my world yet they should never mix. It goes against every scientific bone in my body.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_j_e_s_s_i_/]

WHAT?! IT DOESN'T ~EXIST?!

ARE YOU TELLING ME SANTA CLAUS AND THE EASTER BUNNY ARE FAKE TOO??! BECAUSE IF THEY ARE I QUIT LIFE.

[delorispea.livejournal.com]

AND THE TOOTH FAIRY.


SORRY BB.

JUST HAD TO BREAK TO YOU WHEN YOU IZ A CUB ~

[djmayhem-aubrey.livejournal.com]

THIS WHOLE THREAD MADE ME CRACK UP, NOT GONNA LIE. XD

[ppyajunebug.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about the genetics of magic for a while, and it only gets more complicated. First, magic could not be a single-gene trait. If it was dominant, you'd never get muggle-borns (or at least not the number we're shown) and if it was recessive, you wouldn't have squibs. So clearly, magic is a polygenic trait.

Now, looking at Darwin's theory, we have to assume that at some point in the distant past of human history, a mutation occurred in a single gene that was a precursor to JKR's form of magic. Assuming this would give that proto-wizard an advantage in the natural world, he likely passed it on to his offspring. After many, many generations of further mutations, we could conceivably see something like the magic of Harry's world.

However, since this is polygenic, many Muggles may have a few of the genetic mutations required, but not all. When two Muggles with complementary magical genes have a child with the right combo, BAM muggle-born! And it explains why some muggle-borns have magical siblings (the Creeveys) and some don't (Lily and Petunia). And a mistranslation in a magical fetus (not necessarily uncommon considering how inbred the magical population seems to be) would cause a squib.

Sorry this is more on my genetic theory than on Darwin, but hope it helps!

[willfully.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I like your genetic theory. A lot.

Although after having geeked all over this page about my own theory, I don't have much to add to it. 8D

[slyfoxesq.livejournal.com]

Seconding this! You can find a few papers via google on gene theory when it comes to muggles and magic trying to explain how two magical parents can produce a squib. It's a fascinating subject.

[gryffinwhore.livejournal.com]

I am personally offended you are discussing "evolution." Clearly in the beginning there was a mountain, a tree, a midget, and HIM. Here, have pictorial evidence:



If you wish to further educate yourself, please visit The Church (http://www.venganza.org/) and learn the Truth™

GODRICSPEED.

[slyfoxesq.livejournal.com]

RAMEN.

[slyfoxesq.livejournal.com]

I don't know how much time/energy you want to devote to this, but I strongly, STRONGLY recommend you read up on evolution and how it works before you start so you don't make any of the common mistakes in describing it. I would recommend Jerry Coyne's Why Evolution is True (http://www.amazon.com/Why-Evolution-True-Jerry-Coyne/dp/0670020532/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253419779&sr=8-1), or if you can wait a couple days, Richard Dawkins has a book coming out Tuesday called The Greatest Show on Earth (http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Show-Earth-Evidence-Evolution/dp/1416594787/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253419820&sr=8-1). They're both written for lay audiences and the former is really good (I am expecting the latter to be quite good, too). (I think they're actually more readable than the Wiki article on the subject. XD)

In addition to all the great suggestions here about wizards and muggles, you could also examine magical beasts list dragons and posit which real animals (living or extinct) they may have descended from, how their abilities show that they are adapted to their environments, etc. You could also point out that it's totally unsurprising that they could be unknown to muggles because fossils would be extremely rare and perhaps wizards have deliberately covered up the few that have been uncovered.

This paper could be really exciting. :D Evolutionary biology is one of the most interesting subjects ever, I swear.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_j_e_s_s_i_/]

I was going to suggest something similar but you put it much better than I would have last night because I was in a hurry to meet up with friends haha. I can't agree more that they should definitely familiarize themselves with the basic theory before trying to relate it to anything, or the comparisons just won't be sound.

PS: ICU MAKING MY ICON :D It's sexy. I luhhh it. So thanks :D