Evolution...

Here is an advanced preview of my latest article "Darwin in a Download". I've submitted it to the Exeter Flying Post in the hopes that it will get into the March issue of the publication. Enjoy, and any comments appreciated!

Darwin in a Download
by J H Cooke

Social interaction specialists have often speculated that college life may emulate the Darwinian model of evolution. Indeed, at Exeter College, this certainly appears to be the case. The following extract clearly represents the interactions within the food chain in the Presentation Resources department…

A soft wiring sound erupts across the relative quiet of the room. Breaking the tentative cease-fire of electronic noises. A barrage of raucous laughter breaks out from a hidden corner, the result of some minor, insignificant misbehaviour. An expression of unintelligent delight at a trifling act of juvenile defiance. Fight the system, change the world and screw the bastard establishment. The battle cry of the lesser-spotted Juvinus Malicious, a small, snivelling creature, its only source of happiness coming from its attempts to gain relief from the futile carousel of repetitive actions.

I crouch lower behind my screen.
“Don’t look at me, don’t look at me”, I mutter the constant mantra of Homus Insignificas,
“I’m not here, I don’t exist…” Yeah, right “…honest”
I glance fitfully to my right.
“Wha’choo lookin’ aht?”
Fear grips my cold heart. A fully developed, bull Jerkus Populus advances towards me, jowls foaming in rage. I turn away, blind to my own fate.

So, are students really the next evolutionary generation, or just a sub-sect of the genus? Only time will tell.