[lit-ideas] Re: small addendum to Matrix as philosophy
- From: "Mike Geary" <atlas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2004 13:02:06 -0600
Paul Stone:
> If we WERE designed by a superpowerful thing, why
> did he make things so complicated?
> Any comments?
What has always bothered me about evolution is how organs of perception with
all their specificity to purpose could have ever evolved through the blind
chance of genetic mutation? It's not just the incredible
structural-functional specificity of an eye or ear, but their integration
with the brain and the brain's ability to construct meaning from the
neuronal input from those organs. How can that all come together without an
architect?
Five or so years ago I came across a book -- an extended essay, really --
_The Sacred Depths Of Nature_ by Ursula Goodenough, a cell biologist at
Washington University. It's a popularized look by a cell biologist at how
evolution happens at the cellular level, which, she says, is not as a
willy-nilly happenstance, but a physics-determined outcome of biochemistry.
The book is a wonderful mix of biology, poetry and reverence for existence.
A reverence beyond God. Reverence born out of our human love for existence.
I recommend the book strongly to anyone who wrestles with these questions.
Mike Geary
Memphis
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
