--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Advocates for a single line of progress…" description: "\"Advocates for a single line of progress encounter their greatest stumbling block when they try to find a smooth link between the apparently disparate d..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60f/stephen-jay-gould-885_block_advocates-for-a-single-line-of-progress_2450374.png" --- # Advocates for a single line of progress encounter their… ![“Advocates for a single line of progress encounter their greatest stumbling block when they try to find a smooth link between the apparently disparate designs of the invertebrates and vertebrates.” quote by Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60f/stephen-jay-gould-885_block_advocates-for-a-single-line-of-progress_2450374.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60f/stephen-jay-gould-885_block_advocates-for-a-single-line-of-progress_2450374.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60f/stephen-jay-gould-885_block_advocates-for-a-single-line-of-progress_2450374.png) > “Advocates for a single line of progress encounter their greatest stumbling block when they try to find a smooth link between the apparently disparate designs of the invertebrates and vertebrates.” [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Progress in science faces obstacles when trying to link invertebrate and vertebrate designs. **In simple terms:** Linking animal designs blocks progress. Key Takeaway Seek integrative perspectives. Themes science evolution complexity Mood inquisitive critical Type scientific philosophical When to use this quote - biology education - research funding - policy making Key Concepts comparative anatomy interdisciplinary research Questions to Reflect On - What unifying principles can bridge gaps? - Is single‑line progress realistic? A Different Perspective Some links may be forced, not natural. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Design](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/design/) [Encounters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/encounters/) [Invertebrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invertebrates/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Stumbling block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stumbling-block/) [Stumbling blocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stumbling-blocks/) [Vertebrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vertebrates/) ## Related quotes > [We can now determine, easily and relatively cheaply, the detailed chemical architecture of genes ; and we can trace the products of these genes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/we-can-now-determine-easily-and-relatively-cheaply-the-detailed/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Is boneless chicken considered to be an invertebrate?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/is-boneless-chicken-considered-to-be-an-invertebrate/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [The simple life which blandly ignores all care and conflict, soon becomes flabby and invertebrate, sentimental and gelatinous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-van-dyke/the-simple-life-which-blandly-ignores-all-care-and-conflict-soon/) [Henry Van Dyke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-van-dyke/) > [The facts of paleontology seem to support creation and the flood rather than evolution. For instance, all the major groups of invertebrates appear "suddenly"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enoch/the-facts-of-paleontology-seem-to-support-creation-and-the-flood/) [Enoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enoch/) > [When provoked, the itsy-bitsy invertebrates known as tardigrades can suspend their metabolism. In that state, they can survive temperatures of... 73 K for days…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/when-provoked-the-itsy-bitsy-invertebrates-known-as-tardigrades-can/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [If we and the rest of the back-boned animals were to disappear overnight, the rest of the world would get on pretty well. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/if-we-and-the-rest-of-the-back-boned-animals-were-to-disappear/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [We are part of nature, a product of a long evolutionary journey. To some degree, we carry the ancient oceans in our blood. ……](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/we-are-part-of-nature-a-product-of-a-long-evolutionary-journey-to/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [Art without technique is invertebrate, shapeless, characterless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ignacy-jan-paderewski/art-without-technique-is-invertebrate-shapeless-characterless/) [Ignacy Jan Paderewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ignacy-jan-paderewski/) > [Curse the blasted, jelly-boned swines, the slimy, the belly-wriggling invertebrates, the miserable soddingrotters, the flaming sods, the sniveling, dribbling, dithering, palsied, pulse-less lot that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/curse-the-blasted-jelly-boned-swines-the-slimy-the-belly-wriggling/) [D. H. 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Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [There is the life of the plankton in almost endless variety; there are the many kinds of fish, both surface and bottom living; there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alister-hardy/there-is-the-life-of-the-plankton-in-almost-endless-variety-there-are/) Alister Hardy > [“Such are the inconsistences of humans in uniform, that the same endothermic vertebrates, which were believed a blessing, an aid to nostalgia, a sign…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis-stempel/such-are-the-inconsistences-of-humans-in-uniform-that-the-same/) John Lewis-Stempel > [God: a gaseous vertebrate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/god-a-gaseous-vertebrate/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) ## More by Stephen Jay Gould > [I strongly reject any conceptual scheme that places our options on a line, and holds that the only alternative to a pair of extreme…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/i-strongly-reject-any-conceptual-scheme-that-places-our-options-on-a/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [History employs evolution to structure biological events in time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/history-employs-evolution-to-structure-biological-events-in-time/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [In his anti-Darwinian book... (and eponymously named The Neck of the Giraffe ), Francis Hitching tells the story... "The need to survive by reaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/in-his-anti-darwinian-book-and-eponymously-named-the-neck-of-the/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [... many folks take them seriously because they just 'know' that evolution can never be seen in the immediate here and now. 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Human intellectual capacity has not altered for thousands of years so far as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/but-if-we-laugh-with-derision-we-will-never-understand-human/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [We debase the richness of both nature and our own minds if we view the great pageant of our intellectual history as a compendium…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/we-debase-the-richness-of-both-nature-and-our-own-minds-if-we-view/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) [Explore all 341 Stephen Jay Gould quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) ## More Block quotes > [I am told many children block out the memory of trauma. 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It has a long discussion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-an-interesting-book-about-that-called-the-third-reich-and-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I think you can train yourself to block out some of that pressure and replace it with confidence. It's about preparation, and the more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rodgers/i-think-you-can-train-yourself-to-block-out-some-of-that-pressure-and/) [Aaron Rodgers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rodgers/) > [Writer's block? I've never heard of a plumber complain about plumber's block.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-parker/writer-s-block-i-ve-never-heard-of-a-plumber-complain-about-plumber-s/) [Robert B. Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-parker/) Browse all 1,755 Block quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Advocates for a single line of progress encounter their greatest stumbling block when they try to find a smooth link between the apparently disparate designs of the invertebrates and vertebrates.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stephen Jay Gould" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/advocates-for-a-single-line-of-progress-encounter-their-greatest/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Block" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/advocates-for-a-single-line-of-progress-encounter-their-greatest/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60f/stephen-jay-gould-885_block_advocates-for-a-single-line-of-progress_2450374.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60f/stephen-jay-gould-885_block_advocates-for-a-single-line-of-progress_2450374.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60f/stephen-jay-gould-885_block_advocates-for-a-single-line-of-progress_2450374.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Advocates for a single line of progress encounter their greatest stumbling block when they try to find a…” — Stephen Jay Gould", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Stephen Jay Gould", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Advocates for a single line of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/advocates-for-a-single-line-of-progress-encounter-their-greatest/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/advocates-for-a-single-line-of-progress-encounter-their-greatest/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```