tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008771832557942253.post3299073526423450989..comments2023-10-24T00:39:42.665-07:00Comments on Thoughts from Thomas T. Thomas: Mass Effects and Magical ThinkingThomas T. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301172062574925121noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008771832557942253.post-58907218890382460902012-11-11T09:38:41.022-08:002012-11-11T09:38:41.022-08:00Thanks for this thoughtful treatise on evolution, ...Thanks for this thoughtful treatise on evolution, which is, strictly speaking, a highly regarded theory of biological adaptation and survival through mutable processes. However, the theory has been stretched in this essay to include the moon and stars, political parties, economics, transistor radios, the function of dwellings and the fear of flying, presumably to make the point that it appears there is no God. Shit just happens and the “dead hand” of evolution is more about results than progress and that the biological process decrees that life is cheap, that the process does not care.<br /><br />That assertion does not negate the universally recognized existence of the divine. Evolution, survival of the fittest, is a process whereby the more offspring produced, the more likely a genetic aberration, which helps assure fitness for the future through the dying out of the less fit. The essay cites the example of the protozoan (a huge organism by biochemical standards) that survives for a nanosecond longer than other cohorts in the same puddle by shifting to a darker, wetter spot. It executes a futile response, however, absent reproduction and progeny that would take the same protective action in the future with ever increasing rates of survival.<br /><br />Natural selection is the only known cause of adaptation, but not the only known cause of evolution, random mutation or gene creep, are others. Evolution is predicated on quantity of similar organisms for natural trait selection and random occurance, which requires stasis in the largest possible gene pool.<br /><br />The essay suggests that evolution might have easily conferred the gift of awareness, thought, and personal purpose on sharks or dinosaurs or field mice, as on a particular branch of the primates. But, it's possible the molecular building blocks for self-awareness and god consciousness are present in amino acids, universally shared in complex organisms. This ability could be carrying forward in these species now, waiting for the moment when the right biochemical combinations will enhance survival and awareness. That biochemical ability—to yearn for, appreciate and celebrate self and the divine is a mystery that knocks us to our knees--some in defiance, others in reverence.<br /><br />From Anne Sexton's poem "The Awful Rowing Toward God"<br /><br /> like a pig in a trenchcoat I grew,<br /> and then there were many strange apparitions,<br /> the nagging rain, the sun turning into poison<br /> and all of that, saws working through my heart,<br /> but I grew, I grew,<br /> and God was there like an island I had not rowed to, <br /> still ignorant of Him, my arms and my legs worked,<br /> and I grew, I grew,<br /><br />In the essay "Mass Effects and Magical Thinking," there's convolution of evolutionary theory and this question: What does that say about the God who made us in his own image?<br /><br />Answer: Since all species are continually evolving, surviving and dying, who knows the image of God? Who says God is static? Evolution is cruel and messy, yes. As Anne Sexton said, it's an “awful rowing.” It occurs because of the drive for survival, which is both the biological imperative to procreate and the perpetual yearning for the divine: Our raison d'être.<br />Kate Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02396984792295184717noreply@blogger.com