ABSTRACT
Science's signature lifestyle choice is to confer on mental exertion all the qualities previously reserved for physical exertion, such as size, speed and duration. Prima facie the reason is clear: the sorts of discipline that science requires of the human mind are modelled on-if not outright specialized versions of-disciplines applied to the body. Mendel epitomized a mode of being completely alien to that of Charles Darwin, the gentleman-naturalist responsible for the theory of evolution by natural selection, whose own enquiries had led to a loss of faith without, as it turns out, reducing his sense of curiosity. The classical Greek approach to science involved a delicate balance of freedom and constraint. Mythic tales and influential speeches were routinely committed to memory, not to expand the mind's storage capacity but to increase the likelihood of associations that might spring to mind when composing one's own discourses.
