The importance of neutral null for understanding evolution
Evolutionary theory is uncannily similar to the Hebrew tetragrammaton, which is often translated into English as &quot;I am that I am&quot;.  But digging in, you will find that it is the verb &quot;to be&quot; in both perfect (now) and imperfect (past&#x2F;future) tenses.<p>It means something like &quot;That which is now in a way consistent with that which has been and will be&quot;.  To me, that&#x27;s evolution.<p>This is a reconciliation of philosophy and spirituality that I have found deep joy and peace in.  I was raised Christian, and while I was never pressured to be creationist, neo-Darwinism left such a bad taste in my mouth that at a young, naive age, I embraced creationism as a way to rationalize things that my heart knew to be true.<p>But by the end of high school, I had come to terms with the beauty and depth of evolutionary theory.  Thanks to more ecological versions of evolutionary theory, such as symbiogenesis, evolutionary understanding has since then become a cornerstone of my spirituality.<p>As an artist and musician, I also appreciate the &#x27;<i>creativity</i>&#x27; embedded in the process of evolution.  Evolution says &quot;give it a try&quot;.  If it doesn&#x27;t work, it tries something new. Once in a while, something sticks; it survives its own context some way or another.  Other forms die out, like snapshots of some greater metamorphosis.  We are lucky to witness them!