WHAT IS ENLIGHTENMENT?
Redefining Spirituality for an Evolving World
Issue# 35 March 2007
The REAL Evolution Debate: Evolution through the lens of Science and Spirit
"Everything you always wanted to know about evolution but the mass media wouldn’t tell you." - by Carter Phipps [source]
You’ve seen the papers. You’ve watched the TV reports. You know how the debate on evolution is always framed. Darwin vs. God. Science vs. religion. Evolution vs. creationism. Reason and rationality vs. belief and faith. That’s the evolution debate we hear about in the mass media these days, the one that is causing consternation everywhere from Kansas school boards to Pennsylvania courthouses.
But even as the culture wars rage and endless straw men are sent to their graves, we at WIE would like to suggest a different approach. Because what is portrayed about evolution in today’s media more often than not implies a false choice, an artificial polarization between two extremes. In fact, there is another evolution debate going on behind the scenes, one that is broader, deeper, subtler, and much more profound. And it’s not just a debate between science and spirituality. It’s also about what kind of science and what kind of spirituality we are talking about.
So with that thought in mind, the editors of What Is Enlightenment? set out this past summer to uncover the real evolution debate—to chart those exciting evolutionary theories in both science and spirituality that are causing us to redefine the nature of the evolutionary process and to rethink our conclusions about where we come from, who we are, and where we might be going. Yes, there are still those who say it’s all a cosmic accident and that’s the end of it, and those who say it’s all perfectly planned by God and that’s the end of it. But somewhere in between, there are exciting new ideas that are destined to shake the foundations of the way we understand life in the twenty-first century.
So instead of two categories we have twelve, instead of black and white, we have a whole spectrum of colors. Together they paint a much more interesting, more challenging, and most importantly, more accurate picture of how evolution is being perceived in the spiritual, philosophical, and scientific circles that are helping define the leading edge of contemporary culture. And they show one fact unequivocally: At the beginning of 2007, how we understand the nature of evolution is itself evolving in ever-surprising ways. As it does, it continues to radically alter the way we perceive our world, and the world to come
Evolution through the Lens of Science and Spirit
Between the Neo-Darwinists on one side and the Intelligent Designers on the other are at least ten more "schools" of evolutionary thought. Here, we've spread them out along a spectrum from science to spirit, with scientific materialism on the far left and religious determinism on the far right. Generally speaking, the closer a group of scientific thinkers appear to the center of the chart, for example, the closer its view of evolution comes to integrating the dimension of spirit, and vice-versa—an integration that manifests most fully in the three groups in the middle.
So with that thought in mind, the editors of What Is Enlightenment? set out this past summer to uncover the real evolution debate—to chart those exciting evolutionary theories in both science and spirituality that are causing us to redefine the nature of the evolutionary process and to rethink our conclusions about where we come from, who we are, and where we might be going. Yes, there are still those who say it’s all a cosmic accident and that’s the end of it, and those who say it’s all perfectly planned by God and that’s the end of it. But somewhere in between, there are exciting new ideas that are destined to shake the foundations of the way we understand life in the twenty-first century.
So instead of two categories we have twelve, instead of black and white, we have a whole spectrum of colors. Together they paint a much more interesting, more challenging, and most importantly, more accurate picture of how evolution is being perceived in the spiritual, philosophical, and scientific circles that are helping define the leading edge of contemporary culture. And they show one fact unequivocally: At the beginning of 2007, how we understand the nature of evolution is itself evolving in ever-surprising ways. As it does, it continues to radically alter the way we perceive our world, and the world to come
Evolution through the Lens of Science and Spirit
Between the Neo-Darwinists on one side and the Intelligent Designers on the other are at least ten more "schools" of evolutionary thought. Here, we've spread them out along a spectrum from science to spirit, with scientific materialism on the far left and religious determinism on the far right. Generally speaking, the closer a group of scientific thinkers appear to the center of the chart, for example, the closer its view of evolution comes to integrating the dimension of spirit, and vice-versa—an integration that manifests most fully in the three groups in the middle.
The Neo-Darwinists Evolution and biological complexity are the products of random mutation and natural selection at the level of genes
The Progressive Darwinists Genetic mechanisms are far more complex than previously thought; moreover, we now know there are several nongenetic systems of heredity that also influence the evolutionary process.
The Collectivists Evolution is driven not only by competition between genes but also by symbiogenesis, cooperation, and altruism between organisms.
The Complexity Theorists Evolution occurs not simply through natural selection or random “tinkering” but through the capacity of dynamic complex systems to spontaneously produce higher forms of order.
The Directionalists The process of evolution is progressing toward broader and deeper cooperation and complexity—evidence, if not exactly proof, that it may even be shaped by some form of purpose or design.
The Transhamanists Human beings must take control of their continued evolution—primarily through bioengineering, cybernetics, nanorobotics, and other technological means.
The Intelligent Designers Certain features of the universe and earth’s biological complexity are best explained by an intelligent agent or cosmic designer, not an undirected process such as natural selection.
The Theistic Evolutionists The evolutionary processes of natural selection and random mutation are not contradictory with faith in a God who gives order to all existence. In fact, science and religion deal with different aspects of reality that complement each other.
The Esoteric Evolutionists Evolution is both a physical and a metaphysical process and it proceeds according to hidden esoteric blueprints that are working themselves out in consciousness and matter.
The Process Philosophers God is not a static creator outside time and space but the dynamic, creative dimension of the evolutionary process in time and space.
The Conscious Evolutionists We live in an unfinished cosmos, and its further development depends on us and our willingness to actively participate in the evolution of consciousness.
The Integralists Evolution is a holistic process that includes both objective and subjective dimensions of reality as it moves toward greater exterior complexity of form and greater interior depth of consciousness.
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