Monday, June 04, 2007

Thou Shalt Not Lie! (You silly people!!) Creative Evolution Rocks?

I don't know much about the group Campaign to Defend the Constitution. It describes itself thusly: DefCon is an online grassroots movement combating the growing power of the religious right. We will fight for the separation of church and state, individual freedom, scientific progress, pluralism, and tolerance while respecting people of faith and their right to express their beliefs. That sounds good enough to encourage people to go to their blog and read about their protest against the new Creation Museum -- Defend the Constitution flew the sign to the left over the Museum's grand opening!
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Great protest idea!
See more details about DefCon's campaign to combat the Museum's silly efforts to convince the public that the earth is just a few thousand years old.
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One of the many things I have not written about at length, though I have copious notes and sources, is the misleading dichotomy between "creationism" and "evolution." "Creationists" DO make some good points about the inadequacy of current evolutionary theory to explain a multitude of issues, the most important being the statistical improbably of complex beings evolving so quickly without some sort of intelligence being involved. The evolutionists, of course, have masses of data proving that evolution has occurred over billions of years, debunking the extremely silly notion it never happened at all. However, there are lots of sensible people who know that the earth is billions of years old and that evolution happened, but are tired of being dismissed by scientists because they think there is some sort of intelligent principle at work.
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The scientific alternative is what Henri Bergson labeled "creative evolution," and George Bernard Shaw professed as his own religion. The kind of idea a number of spiritually minded and/or creative thinking scientists have played with over the last century or so.
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I describe "creative evolution" in the most general terms in the outline of my book CONSCIOUSNESS AND COMMUNITY: TRANSCENDING GOD AND STATE.
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METAPHYSICS: (the nature and purpose of reality) “New paradigm” science describes principles of self-organization which operate all through reality–creating time-space-energy-matter. These principles operate from the sub-atomic, chemical, astronomical, and planetary levels, up into the cellular, plant, animal and human levels. Scientists describe differing but complimentary “dynamic” and “integrative” principles which resemble the assertive "yang" and harmonizing "yin" principles described in Taoist philosophy. And they see evidence of an inherent drive to evolve more organized systems and more fully conscious beings--ones who could more fully experience and enjoy reality. (Or, as I like to say, in the beginning was the urge to have a good time.) .
Some scientists compare these principles of self-organization and evolution to consciousness. The dynamic principles are like imagination and will and integrative principles like memory and awareness. Moreover, there is evidence of fields of awareness and memory called "morphogenetic" fields linking similar entities--atoms, chemicals, and each living species, including human. These fields communicate subconscious knowledge among, and promote physical and social evolution of, these entities.
. Because these principles are like consciousness, and because their purpose seems to be evolution of greater and higher consciousness, I personally choose to call the very nature and purpose of reality "consciousness." I personally believe that the concept of universal consciousness must replace the concept of a transcendent “God.” As promoted by authoritarians who claim to speak and act in the name of a superior entity, the word and concept “God” has become like an idol–one that alienates us from our co-creation of the universe and our own lives. Recognizing that we are products of our own conscious evolution, not the creation of a transcendent god, we will recognize ourselves as the creators of human destiny. We finally will be able to create the heaven on earth, kingdom, Shangra La which so many religions have described.
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omebody get me a $50,000 book advance so I can catch up on current research, name some names, throw in some heart warming and inspiring stories, finish the danged book, and have my first billion seller. P.l.e.a.s.e?!?

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