Humankind Advancing, Vol.9, No.2 April 1998

This awareness makes it indispensable to search for the wisdom that would allow the best minds on earth to interact with one another.

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Throughout history man's supposed limitations have given way before the power of the human imagination, the ability of the human intellect to conceive of and do what has never been done before.

Norman Cousins

"Man's coming to know is a group enterprise. It is not the work of the isolated individual applying his senses, accumulating insights, weighing the evidence, forming his judgment. On the contrary, it is the work of many, each adding, as it were, to a common fund, the fruits of his observations, the perspectives caught by his understanding, the supporting or contrary evidence from his reflection.

Moreover, this division of labor in coming to know is possible just insofar as it is possible for men to believe one another. What you see with your eyes can be contributed to a common fund of knowledge only in the measure that you can be trusted to observe accurately, to speak truthfully, to select your words precisely. What holds for ocular vision also holds for all other cognitional operations. One man can perform them and many can profit from his performance if he is trustworthy and they believe him."

Bernard Lonergan


Evolution is always coevolution and as such an endless feedback process: Species selection has to respond to a dynamic environment constantly being changed by species selection. Similar processes take place in the human system. To an observer, evolutionary success looks "as if" a successful system has always done the "right things" in response to the challenges of its changing environment, and failure or extinction looks like a failure to adapt. The properties of the environment and the process of selection can therefore be said to impose implicit goal functions or orientors on evolving systems which guide structural dynamics and the evolution of emergent properties (such as hierarchy). The same set of basic "orientors" applies to all evolving systems. Such goal functions (e.g., effectiveness and its consequence, the principle of maximum energy flow utilization) can be used to predict the trends of structural dynamics and system evolution.

Hartmut Bossel, 1996, (p.148)

 A discussion of 

shows a diagram displaying "emergent evolution" and "constructive evolution" on opposing ends, and it is explained that the latter proceeds gradually, while the former occurs through broad and swift transformations; that is, one of them excludes the other one. That is not the case. Though they could not possibly have been the result of one single fundamental change, brain and consciousness are phenomena of such complexity and sophistication, that their evolution very probably involved hundreds of sudden transformations in succession.

Concentration of attention, however, belongs on the book's positive side. My favourite chapter deals with Jean Gebser's theory, which assumes five major structures of consciousness, the archaic, magic, mythical, mental and integral one. Here, my studies of the evolution of brain structure and function clicked in, and I could clearly see, highlighted by Comb's explanations of Gebser's explanations, how and why human thinking processes evolved as they did. 

The archaic structure is essentially pre-human. It deals with instincts and inherited or learned behavior patterns that are accepted without question. With the arrival of the first human beings, the magical structure of consciousness appeared. A groping object-subject differentiation occurred, but objects were substituted for one another (as they still are in present-day superstitions); bisons in cave paintings were believed to infuse magical powers into hunters. The next stage, the mythical one, coincided with a struggle for explanations in terms of cause-effect relationships in the context of enlarged space and time conceptions. Questions were answered such as "Where did we come from?" or "How did we learn about good and evil?" and were answered with creation-myths, which exist in every civilization on earth. -- Finally, the mental structure arose -- the era of critical thinking and testable projections -- the era of science.

But neither of the previous structures of consciousness completely disappeared, and, according to Gebser and Combs, cannot and must not disappear to keep humanity human. Archaic structures of consciousness in our culture function like the heartbeat and blood circulation in our physical bodies; we are unaware of them, and yet could not function without them. Nor could we function without magic. It "glows in the eyes of our beloved and leads us to that feeling of unity experienced in romantic love." (P.101) [Could child-bearing and raising occur if knowledge of physical and chemical events were substituted for feeling?] Mythical structures, which coincided with the cohesion of human units vastly larger than families or tribes, are needed because they still play an important role in the generation of altruism. If the "Epic of Evolution" can take the place of older myths, a power will be generated that overcomes national or religious rivalries and unites all of humanity. Lastly, mental structures, enable us to answer the question "How?," even if they fall short of the ability to answer "Why?" They inform us that the resources on earth can support only a limited population, and that both population growth and growth of wants cannot be continued indefinitely -- but they cannot force us to care about our descendants. That concern arises from a source deep within us. (Gebser calls it "the Origin"). For this reason, he and Combs point to the need for a further and more inclusive structure of consciousness now evolving, which they call the "integral" one.

Never before did I understand so clearly that the persistent, and annoying, presence of irrationality has its benefits. And yet, its indefinite growth would be destructive. Even the most benevolent sentiments can lead to catastrophic results, unless they are combined with reason. It is, then, our task to find the right proportion of each of the structures of consciousness that must be combined to achieve the optimal integral structure, the one of wisdom, that will assure a safe way into the future.

These are not the words of Gebser or of the author -- they are the insights derived from their thoughts. But this generation of insights lifts the book far above most other literature.

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A. Combs teaches at the University of North Carolina, Asheville, and the Saybrook Institute in San Francisco. He is a prolific author on consciousness and the brain, co-founder of the Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology, and belongs to the recently formed 100-member Club of Budapest.

R.W. Sperry, 1969

KNOWLEDGE IN CONTEXT
All of our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike -- and yet it is the most precious thing we have.

Albert Einstein

Bill Ellis, recently retired from several decades of selfless work as editor of TRANET, an excellent international publication promoting hands-on technology suitable for a sustainable civilization, explains the nature of scientific knowledge to his friends in Bill Holden's group, a community of persons concerned with the search for new values that would safeguard the future of humankind on our planet:

Science is a body of knowledge about the real physical and biological world derived by humans by the process of observation, logic, and experimentation. It is "public knowledge" which can be observed and repeated by anyone; and it is accepted as science until it is proven by observation, logic and experiment to be untrue. It is based on the fewest premises possible. Each premise must be both necessary (without it all knowledge cannot be derived) and sufficient (with it all knowledge can be derived). Within these rules a scientific hypothesis must be disprovable. And with these rules new knowledge should be derivable.

Even well respected hypotheses like the Gaia Hypothesis, and morphogenesis are held, by their originators and adherents, as being outside of science until they have passed the test of being proven by predicting experimental facts which can be tested. Adherents believe they are true, but they don't know they are.*

Science is a very small body of knowledge. It does not know everything about the cosmos. It does tell us that we live in a mysterious, wondrous, and awe inspiring universe. But it leaves a lot of room for speculation, fantasy, exploration and belief. We cannot know ultimate reality.

Unless we can separate beliefs, fantasies and speculations from public knowledge we cannot have meaningful public discourse. All those almost-sciences are in the field of speculation, fantasy and belief; but they are not yet science. To redefine science to include them does not make them science; and it destroys the adherent's credibility.

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*Bill Ellis, a former Physics Program Officer at the National Science Foundation, is presently writing a book on The Emerging Gaian Culture.

Excerpts from

(Click here for the full text of the article)

Sagan explained that at the heart of science there are two distinguishing features which make it uniquely valuable as the foundation of a workable world view. One of these is the self-correcting mechanism that not only allows for, but encourages, an unrelenting process of testing propositions in terms of their workability and falsifiability. The other is an essential balance between two attitudes: "an openness to new ideas, no matter how counter-intuitive, and the most ruthless skeptical scrutiny of all ideas, old and new." (Pp.7/8) .... He explained as well that "scientists do not seek to impose their needs and wants on Nature, but instead humbly interrogate Nature and take seriously what they find." In fact, scientific theories, by their very nature, cannot be negotiated or politically imposed. (P.8) -------------------------------

This article is part of a series on the evolution of modern humanism by Dr. Hutcheon, a former Canadian professor of education, published in the Humanist in Canada.

A review of 

better life or to believe that a better life can only be attained by clinging to intolerance and ignorance, by lessening the lives of others. And sometimes, by focusing on a life to come, we miss what we have in this life. It is a different source of hope, but it is hope nonetheless: 

hope that human intelligence, combined with compassion, can solve our myriad problems and enhance the quality of each life; hope that historical progress continues on its march toward greater freedoms and acceptance for all humans; and hope that reason and science as well as love and empathy can help us understand our universe, our world, and ourselves."

M. Shermer teaches the history of science, technology, and evolutionary thought in the Cultural Studies Program at Occidental College in Los Angeles, U.S.A.

Voltaire

In response to each unspeakable act of evil we must raise ten million flags for good.

Geraldine Schwartz

It is easy to see how limiting foreign policy to economic, political, and financial interests has been a major cause of global tensions and world wars since the human element has often been missing from international relations.

D. Paul Schafer

The spirit can be in the form of a happening in our inmost part of the mind, consciousness as an experience....Thus, it may be said that consciousness is a gift from God and a Cosmic Phenomenon.

Peter Jackson

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Geraldine Schwartz is co-director of Creative Learning International, 209-1628 West 1st Ave.,Vancouver, B.C. Canada, V6J 1G1

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Duane Elgin, the author of Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Life That is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich, describes a new project entitled Global Consciousness Change: Indicators of an Emerging Paradigm which he presently conducts with Coleen LeDrew as coordinator.

Collaborating organizations are: The Fetzer Institute, The Institute of Noetic Sciences, The Brande Foundation, The California Institute of Integral Studies, and the State of the World Forum.

The project's objective is to trace and encourage a shift toward ecological concern and consciousness: the 1992 World's Scientist's Warning to Humanity was signed by over 1600 senior scientists, including a majority of the living Nobel laureates in the sciences;

Vaclav Havel's 1990 address to the U.S. Congress, as well as declarations of other prominent persons, show similar awareness.

The most important, and most needed, change, however, is occurring in the general population, as documented by Paul Ray's 1995 survey of what he calls "Cultural Creatives." Elgin speaks of a movement toward a reflective/living-systems perspective and way of life, expressed by statements such as "the goal in life is to develop a balanced relationship between our inner and outer lives -- to live in a way that is sustainable and compassionate," and "each person takes responsibility for the well-being of the world, enabling high levels of decentralization and freedom at the local level, and a sustainable harmony at the global level."

The report ends with suggestions on "What You Can Do," e.g. stay informed, start study groups, do personal research -- and/or contact the authors at: Millennium Project, P.0.Box 2449, San Anselmo, CA 94960 USA. E-mail: report@awakeningearth.org (also, see http://www.awakeningearth.org )

REFLECTIONS

If reason and humane sentiments can be balanced, either in the same brain, or in different brains dedicated to cooperation with one another, humanity will remain part of evolution's creation of new miracles. -- It is not necessary to assume that purpose and meaning preceded our world to acknowledge that they exist and play a vital part in it. They emerged during nature's process of experimentation and have become essential. They are immanent in the work we choose to do, in the love we receive and transmit.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My sincere gratitude to Dr. Ernst Mayr, the Cambridge University Press, and the Harvard University Press for permitting me to use excerpts from Mayr's work, and to Jane and Bob Coe, publishers of a valuable Roundtable-letter, for drawing my attention to Mayr's book. I also wish to thank Dr. Combs for sending me his The Radiance of Being, Dr. Loyal Rue for drawing my attention to Shermer's publication, Bill Ellis and Dr. Hutcheon for their stand on science, and Dr. Schwartz, Duane Elgin, J.M. and B. Coe, and D.P. Schafer for enriching the world with their projects.

Further, I wish to thank Peter Jackson, who is still perfecting his response to the April 1997 questionnaire on whether scientific expertise and humane sentiments can coexist in the same brain, which he answers positively and at some length, based upon right- and left-brain differences in thinking. He asked me to mention, whenever his exposition will be published, that he added Sperry's Science and Moral Priority and my Beyond a World Divided as background references. As an enormous amount of already accepted material will delay this publication, I suggest that anyone interested in the subject contact him directly at 12 Emily Carr Street, Unionville, ON L3R 2K4, Canada.