Entheogenic Scientist
06-11-2007, 07:10 PM
I am an evolutionist. It seems highly probable that the Kosmos is in a constant state of directional change towards increasing complexity. Society, the psyche, organisms, planetary systems and DNA are all part of the grand unfolding of the universe at play with itself. The Kosmos has design, meaning and purpose and these are the driving forces of evolution itself. In which way do cause and effect move? Is our present situation solely a consequence of past causes? Do future causes influence the present moment? Are we drawn towards people and events in our lives like water finding its way down an incline? There are only a limited number of paths we can take and eventually they all reach the sea.
Biologists often let their own worldviews cloud their science. If your worldview is that of a universe without design, purpose or intelligence then the only way to explain evolution is as a blind and purposeless process. Evolution itself doesn’t support such a view, rather the view dictates the theory. How does one test such a view? For the life scientist it would entail the empirical demonstration that genetic mutation is random and blind. Such experiments would be very difficult to design and to my knowledge have never been done. Furthermore, only a casual inspection of the literature clearly shows that evolution is not gradual but rather it proceeds in great leaps and bounds once tipping points are reached and thresholds crossed. Such chasms can never be crossed by blind chance and natural selection alone. A casual inspection of genomes demonstrates the capacity for possible dormant units of gene expression. Pseudogenes lie inactive and are thought to be old versions of current genes that are now active. Has anyone investigated the possibility that they are becoming the newer versions of our current genes? Transposable elements lie dormant having once travelled around the genome rearranging it in the process. Have they already rearranged it for our next leap of evolution or has that yet to take place? Are the genes of our evolutionary future lying prepared in silence waiting for the time when they will be turned on on mass? Is it likely that such possibilities are even discussed among scientists conditioned in the belief of a reductive materialistic universe? The complexity of life is immense and there is staggering diversity revolving around universal macromolecular structures. The timing of nature is exquisite with each part unfolding its purpose at a precise moment without being aware of the higher aim. Would it be unreasonable to assume that we as human beings are a part of something bigger than ourselves that we have yet to understand? Scientists accept that when cells of a developing blastocyst divide and eventually form an embryo that they do so with intelligence and purpose. Examples of teleology abound in nature as does intelligence and meaning. Are you consciously aware of the intelligence at work in your immune system at it fights an infection? The mind and intelligence that we are consciously aware of is probably only a tiny fraction of what is occurring in the Kosmos. When you drive to the grocery store your journey has meaning, purpose and teleology. Why then do we assume that these features are unique to human action itself rather than an intrinsic part of reality itself?
If evolution is driven by design, meaning and purpose then science in its current form will not be able to explain its drive and mechanism. Science only shows us that evolution DOES happen and at the genetic level it can’t even tell us HOW. Is this the fault of science itself or the scientist using the method? I think the latter and propose that to understand the mind and intelligence behind evolution is to understand evolution itself. To be conscious of the mind of nature is to be conscious of the evolutionary process itself. If that is the case then an alteration of consciousness is needed to study this mind. Could applying the rigours of the scientific method to the observation of certain aspects of consciousness be used to answer questions of a scientific nature? Should science be classed as a methodology that can be used to study all aspects of reality or should we limit it to the study of the part of reality consisting of the matter we can currently sense and its interaction with the energy we can currently measure. It seems to me that a science freed from dogma and orthodoxy could be used to study the Kosmos as a whole rather than limiting it to a specific aspect of reality. Science is not the problem it’s just the limits that are put on it by scientists letting their own beliefs about the ultimate nature of reality limiting the process of discovery.
Biologists often let their own worldviews cloud their science. If your worldview is that of a universe without design, purpose or intelligence then the only way to explain evolution is as a blind and purposeless process. Evolution itself doesn’t support such a view, rather the view dictates the theory. How does one test such a view? For the life scientist it would entail the empirical demonstration that genetic mutation is random and blind. Such experiments would be very difficult to design and to my knowledge have never been done. Furthermore, only a casual inspection of the literature clearly shows that evolution is not gradual but rather it proceeds in great leaps and bounds once tipping points are reached and thresholds crossed. Such chasms can never be crossed by blind chance and natural selection alone. A casual inspection of genomes demonstrates the capacity for possible dormant units of gene expression. Pseudogenes lie inactive and are thought to be old versions of current genes that are now active. Has anyone investigated the possibility that they are becoming the newer versions of our current genes? Transposable elements lie dormant having once travelled around the genome rearranging it in the process. Have they already rearranged it for our next leap of evolution or has that yet to take place? Are the genes of our evolutionary future lying prepared in silence waiting for the time when they will be turned on on mass? Is it likely that such possibilities are even discussed among scientists conditioned in the belief of a reductive materialistic universe? The complexity of life is immense and there is staggering diversity revolving around universal macromolecular structures. The timing of nature is exquisite with each part unfolding its purpose at a precise moment without being aware of the higher aim. Would it be unreasonable to assume that we as human beings are a part of something bigger than ourselves that we have yet to understand? Scientists accept that when cells of a developing blastocyst divide and eventually form an embryo that they do so with intelligence and purpose. Examples of teleology abound in nature as does intelligence and meaning. Are you consciously aware of the intelligence at work in your immune system at it fights an infection? The mind and intelligence that we are consciously aware of is probably only a tiny fraction of what is occurring in the Kosmos. When you drive to the grocery store your journey has meaning, purpose and teleology. Why then do we assume that these features are unique to human action itself rather than an intrinsic part of reality itself?
If evolution is driven by design, meaning and purpose then science in its current form will not be able to explain its drive and mechanism. Science only shows us that evolution DOES happen and at the genetic level it can’t even tell us HOW. Is this the fault of science itself or the scientist using the method? I think the latter and propose that to understand the mind and intelligence behind evolution is to understand evolution itself. To be conscious of the mind of nature is to be conscious of the evolutionary process itself. If that is the case then an alteration of consciousness is needed to study this mind. Could applying the rigours of the scientific method to the observation of certain aspects of consciousness be used to answer questions of a scientific nature? Should science be classed as a methodology that can be used to study all aspects of reality or should we limit it to the study of the part of reality consisting of the matter we can currently sense and its interaction with the energy we can currently measure. It seems to me that a science freed from dogma and orthodoxy could be used to study the Kosmos as a whole rather than limiting it to a specific aspect of reality. Science is not the problem it’s just the limits that are put on it by scientists letting their own beliefs about the ultimate nature of reality limiting the process of discovery.