History through the perspective of non-linear dynamics

This thesis was conceived in the Summer of 1992. It was the result of many years of searching for a rationale for human history and behavior.

Karl Popper said of Darwin's theory of evolution that; 'It was a metaphysical theory', he said this , due to the impossibility of proving this theory conclusively, which is why some people do not accept Darwin's theory and believe in creationism instead. All one can say about evolution is; examine the evidence. To many people, all the evidence points to it being the best explanation for our existence, even Pope John Paul the second gave the theory of evolution some credence. My thesis is also a metaphysical theory in Popper's sense.
 

Up until the summer of 1996, I thought I was alone with my theories, then I came across a theory proposed by the physicist Carter Brandon, it comes in three versions.

1. WEAK ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE: The observed values of all physical quantities are restricted by the requirement that they be compatible with our existence as observers. (abbreviated to WAP)

2. STRONG ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE: The universe must be nearly as we know it or life would not exist; conversely, if life didn't exist, neither would the universe. (abbreviated to SAP)

3. FINAL ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE: Once life is created, it will endure forever, become infinitely knowledgeable, and ultimately mold the universe to its will. (abr. FAP)

I found the anthropic principles in a book written by John L. Casti called "Paradigms Lost" ( page 479) . Casti states: "The FAP asserts the kind of ultimate fate for intelligence that virtually all religions would endorse, namely, that our descendants will become like gods".

Casti then quotes the physicist Tony Rothman:

"When confronted with the order and beauty of the universe and the strange coincidences of nature, it's very tempting to take the leap of faith from science into religion. I am sure many physicists want to. I only wish they would admit it".

Finally he quotes Freeman Dyson:

"As we look out into the Universe and identify the many accidents of physics and astronomy that have worked together to our benefit, it almost seems as if the Universe must in some sense have known that we were coming".

This thesis makes a very strong case for the FAP, the way I have done this is to use non linear dynamics (chaos theory), in metaphorical way. Gestalts are better described by metaphors than hypotheses. I have found a way to remove the dichotomy, between religious truth and scientific truth. This intellectual journey, starts by accepting the possibility that:

The human race is evolving towards the goal of putting life in space

Stated as a religious metaphor, to reach the kingdom of heaven.

I get the evidence for the FAP theory from six sources namely; Religion, Evolution, Economics, Chaos Theory, History and Philosophy. My evidence for the FAP comes from very diverse sources, this means that if I want to keep this thesis short, it must leap about a bit.

 On the religious side of the dichotomy we have emotionality, faith in what has been taught, love, metaphors, holistic philosophy and creationism. On the scientific side we have imagination, logic, ego, reductionism, hypotheses and evolution. Most people will be on one side of the dichotomy or the other. This can lead to much dissension as to the nature of reality. Science has not supplied us with an overall explanation for our existence. This has come about through reductionism, because the society of science is about having hard edged proof for ones discoveries, so that the kudos can be claimed. Proving a holistic theory about the future is impossible, it can only be proved in retrospect. One can say however, mankind's tentative forays off our planet, give much weight to the FAP.

 Another way of stating the dichotomy, is to say it is between determinism and non determinism. People who follow a religion should believe in determinism and have a holistic approach to our existence. Believing in non determinism is believing that we exist as a species that was not created for a purpose, and in a holistic sense, life is meaningless. There is either a collective purpose to the existence of our species, or there is not. If there is a collective purpose, one can have different theories, to explain that purpose. If one could go back in time before the industrial revolution and somebody asked what the destiny of our species was, we could tell them that our destiny was to invent all the technology we have, go to the Moon, split the atom etc.
 

There are two realities; subjective and objective. Imagine being on a space craft a thousand light years away looking at the earth, all that would be seen of all the individual subjective realities is a simple dot of light. This thesis proposes an objective reality, our species might share (It is a philosophical Mount Everest). When asked, "Do I believe in God"? My answer is;" Do you believe in reality?"
 

Many religious people instead of using the word God use the word Creator, by stating this, it could be said; that which has created our species is God. To state that we have not been created, is to state that we are not here.

We exist. Ergo, we have been created.

What has designed our species? Evolution is the answer, science usually gives. When the question of determinism is raised in terms of our species, many people, because of the rejection of religion, think that there is no global determinism to our existence. Many people when questioned as to what life means for them, will answer in a personally deterministic sense, i.e. The desire to raise children, get a career to fund a good home and future for ones children, increase ones own status in society etc.
 

One of the biggest scientific breakthroughs in the 20th century was quantum mechanics. One part of the quantum theory invented by Richard Feynman was called 'The sum of histories'. This is where the researcher looks at all the probable paths and positions of any particle. All the probable paths are added together and a prediction is made as to state of the particle. If this approach is taken with the search for some kind of global determinism in respect to our species; we should be able to calculate all the individual determinisms of our personal behavior patterns and arrive at holistic probabilities. Such as the acquisition by our species of more and more space on the earth.
 

Anything we are told about reality is possibly true, science only tries to discover what is probably true, therefore I think that treating any communicated fact with an element of doubt is best, thus keeping an open mind.

People with closed minds never change them.

So if their perception of reality is wrong.

It stays wrong.

If someone tells me, something is true, depending on my relationship with that person I will go through the mental process of saying; Yes it is possible, but how probable is it? All relationships start with trust. People are more likely to accept information from someone they trust. This is one way we arrive at a mental model of the world. Another way we arrive at a mental model of the world, is the route of understanding. This is achieved with logic, imagination, accurate information and the ability to make valid connections in terms of establishing  cause and effect.

An example for understanding versus belief, happened when Galileo discovered the use of a telescope and looked up at the heavens. What he saw and understood, told him that the contemporary Catholic Church's model for reality was wrong. Galileo went to the Pope and said "Papa the Earth goes around the Sun". The Pope did not like this, so Galileo was excommunicated then sent into exile. The Sun went around the Earth for years after.
 

If you had not been taught that the Earth went around Sun, from observing the movement of the Sun during the day, from your point of perspective, the Sun would look like it went around the Earth. This illustrates the problem with common sense and an understanding of the errors that can arise with an incorrect observer's perspective. Many cultures have different global theories. Some of these theories have proved incorrect as in the previous example.
 

One way cultures can be defined as separate, is when we look at the many different world views and set of general principles that they have. Many of these views are mutually exclusive, or simply put, they cannot all be right, e.g. You cannot simultaneously have an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth and turn the other cheek, and these two conflicting general principles are in the same book. The point of this statement is, to emphasize, the importance of finding out the truth, about what we are taught.
 

All human beings live on the same world, what IS, is what matters, science has established the fact that what IS, can be changed by what we understand. (Hiroshima)

Reality is a dynamic flux

Science is the process of understanding cause and effect.

To believe something is true, can be the process of accepting an explanation for, or a description of, a part of reality, without direct evidence. Direct evidence comes through experience. Alternatively it can be having direct evidence and not understanding how, that evidence connects together when making a holistic statement about reality.

Individual reality, is an individual affair.

External reality is everyone's affair. I term this: -

"The Business of ISness".

Neither you nor I have a patent on reality.

The healing of the wrongs of humanity, requires that our global theory for our existence must be as accurate as possible. Before Galileo, the world view promoted by the Catholic Church, was that the Earth never moved and the Sun went around the Earth, this is to believe that the Earth is the centre of the universe. This was, as to our species view of the universe, a collective egotism. I cannot get the world in my head, I can only get my head in the world and in doing so, get myself in proportion to everything else and strive to get an accurate mental model of reality. Our problem with understanding existence, is the rigidity of our thought processes, we only seem to want to hear, that which confirms our established beliefs. Beliefs become mental habits.

I believe that the mind should flow as a river.

Grow as a tree.

Forever seeking truth.

The dichotomy between religion and science started happening, when people read Darwin's Origin of Species.

Before Darwin, 90% of English people went to Church and their lives where dictated by what they were taught from the Bible. They believed it to be literal truth, When people read Origin of Species and understood the logic of evolution, they discarded the Bible saying; God did not make us, because we have evolved.
 

There is a logical sequence, to remove the dichotomy between religious truth and scientific truth, that is to say yes , God did create us and yes we did evolve. The Bible then becomes a metaphorical description of reality and the environment is seen to be part of God, because if God is defined to be, that which has created us, and the process of creation seen to be evolution, then the environment has to be seen as part of God. There are many examples for environmental creation. One good example is the pygmies and the Watusi in Africa. The Watusi are a very tall tribe that evolved on flat grasslands, where height gives an advantage. The pygmies are very short because they live in the jungle where shortness is an advantage.
 

Accepting the fact that the Sun is the power that drives the biological environment, and we get closer to an awareness of God.

It states in the Bible that God is Light

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PSALM 147

Verse 8:

Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth,

who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.

Verse 9:

He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry. ____________________________________________________________________

PSALM 104

Verse 13:

He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the

fruit of thy works.

Verse 14:

He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of

man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth.

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PSALM 19

Verse 1:

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmanent sheweth his

handiwork.

Verse 2:

Day unto day uttereth speech. And night unto night sheweth knowledge.

Verse 3:

Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of

the world.

In them hath he set a Tabernacle for the Sun.

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The Jews saw their Tabernacle as a dwelling place for God. The Jews came from ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians worshipped Ra the Sun God, (it does not take a large leap of imagination to connect the previous psalm with the way the Egyptians thought) It could be said that worshipping the Sun is a rational thing to do. The Sun makes it rain, grows our food with photosynthesis and keeps the Earth in its place revolving around itself, all the life processes of the Earth rely on the Sun for nearly everything. If religion has to be taught and cannot be perceived from first hand observation of reality by an individual, then it can be suspect, because the prejudices of the teacher will usually not be known by the taught. 

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