Atheist: An individual who rejects the notion of a supreme being that exists outside of the abilities of modern science to either prove or disprove.
Complexity: A term better left for discussion in a context where it can be defined. In Biology, we rarely have such a context. There are no theoretical grounds for evolution to act on a population to increase its measure of complexity.
Conservative: See Type.
Evolution: Change over time. Mechanisms of evolution can be cultural, genetic, epigenetic, natural, artificial, sexual, or geographic. Berkeley has a well respected website on the core principles of evolutionary theory.
Eusociality: The most extreme form of social evolution as defined by E. O. Wilson. Eusocial super-organisms have reproductive division of labor and overlapping generations that cooperatively care for brood. Examples include a wide diversity of organisms, from slime molds to ants, bees, termites, and possibly also, humans.
Moshiach: The Jewish messiah, or “annointed one,” the belief in which is one of the main principles of Judaism. Without getting into the details of who this individual is or what it means (as these vary depending on who you ask) I will instead share the following quote in which the essence concerns the coming of Moshiach and our involvement in that process as understood from the Rebbe’s teachings by Tzvi Freeman,
“When it all began, Heaven was here on Earth.
The physical plane, more than any of the higher spiritual worlds, was the place where the Divine Presence yearned to be.
But Man, step by step, banished the Divine Presence from its home, with a tree of knowledge, with a man who murdered his brother, with all those things that human beings do…
Since Man chased it away, only Man can bring it back. And this began with Abraham, who proclaimed Oneness for all the world.
And it ends with us. Our generation will bring Heaven back down to Earth.”
Myrmecology: The study of ants. One of the scientific disciplines outlined in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible).
Natural Selection: The changes in species composition and diversity produced by the logical conclusion of the following four conditions: (1) There exists variation within a population; (2) Some of this variation is heritable; (3) Some heritable characteristics enable certain individuals to produce more offspring than others; (4) Resources are limited. When these four conditions are satisfied, the distribution of characteristics within and between populations changes. If the changes are significant enough, extinction and/or speciation may take place.
Orthodox: See Type.
Rebbe: The rebbe is the spiritual leader, commonly of a hasidic group. In Chabad-Lubavitch, there have been seven Rebbes, the most recent of which was Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
Red Queen Hypothesis: Proposed by Leigh Van Valen (University of Chicago). Species do not evolve into “better” forms, but rather, into “different” ones as a result of changes in their environment (either natural or induced by other species’ evolution). So change continues to take place, but as with Alice and the Red Queen, it doesn’t actually go anywhere. Van Valen proposed this hypothesis in response to the observation that throughout the geological record, species continue to have similar probabilities of extinction despite having evolved, so evolution does not necessarily increase the probability of surviving.
Reform: See Type.
Shabbos: Also known as shabbat, shabbos is the 7th day of the week and Jews observe it as the sabbath, commemorating the 7th day of creation. Although the common idea is that it is a day of rest (and in fact, no work is done on this day), it is also a day of celebration, rejoicing, feasting, and enlightenment. We observe shabbos from sundown on Friday evening until after sundown on Saturday evening and then begin counting down the days until the next shabbos.
Talmud: The Jewish oral law consisting of the discussions in the Mishnah and Gemara and also the basis for rabbinic law.
Torah: The five books of Moses and the first part of Jewish written law (Tanakh).
Type: The kind of Jew a person identifies as. Many people like certain classifications, including Orthodox, Reform, Conservative, Hasidic, Haredi, Conservadox, Modern Orthodox, Humanist, etc. Unfortunately, these classifications are also used to identify other Jews and then pass judgement based on a perception of their degree of observance of certain customs and laws. There is however, only one true judge, and so I believe that this behavior is not appropriate for us to pursue. As a consequence, I reject the idea of imposing subdivisions on the Jewish people and prefer, if adjectives are necessary to describe each other, ones such as Jolly, Devoted, Courageous, Inquisitive, Gentle, Friendly, Exuberant, etc.
