EVOLUTION AND PURPOSE

1. EVOLUTION AND PURPOSE Gregoriana Pontifical University 13 / 12 / 2003 By Jean Staune

2. I Evolution without purpose � Gould, Dennett, Dawkins II Evolution with no apparent purpose � Miller, Haught III Self organization and Vitalism � Bergson, Goodwin, Ho IV Purpose in Evolution A ) Internal Logic or non-random, long-term processes � Teilhard, Dambricourt, Chaline, Chandebois B ) Fine-tuning of the laws of biology � Denton, de Duve C ) Directed macro-mutations � Schutzenberger, Dorst, Chauvin, Sermonti, Fondi V More than purpose: design � Behe, Dembski Conclusion: Statement from His Holiness Pope John Paul II Personal remarks

3. I- Evolution without purpose (1) The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. Richard Dawkins Rivers out of Eden, Harper Collins, 1995, p. 132-133 If religion, including the dogmatic secular ideologies, can be systematically analyzed and explained as a product of the brain's evolution, its power as an external source of morality will be gone forever. Daniel Dennett, Darwins ideas as a �universal acid�.

4. I- Evolution without purpose (2) What then of all the glories of our religious traditions? They should certainly be preserved in the same way as languages, art, customs, rituals and monuments. Zoos are now increasingly being seen as second class havens for endangered species, but at least they are havens and what they preserve is irreplaceable [�]. What will happen, one may well wonder, if religion is presented in cultural zoos, in libraries, in concert and demonstration? It is happening: the tourists flock to watch Native American Tribal dancers and for the onlookers it is folklore. Daniel Dennett, Darwin�s Dangerous Idea Simon and Schuster (1995) p.519-520

5. I- Evolution without purpose (3) The famous progress in this history of life is also a random movement separating organisms from their minuscule ancestors as opposed to a unidirectional impulsion towards increasing complexity Stephen Jay Gould, Full House, Harmony Books, 1996. French Translation: Evantail du Vivant, Le Seuil, 1997 p. 213. We are the glorious accidents of an unpredictable process that has nothing to do with a greater level of complexity and not the result of predictable evolutionary principles aimed at producing a creature capable of understanding the mechanisms of its own creation. Ibid p. 266 Natural evolution is not based on a principle that confirms the existence of predictable progress or a movement towards greater complexity. Ibid p. 273

6. I- Evolution without purpose (4) This book will be of special interest to certain readers like environmentalists, animal lovers, atheists, psychologists, feminists, social workers and thinking sections of our society. The author traced the history of our civilized existence right from the origin of the primordial being to man, the stupidus. The reader is naturally bound to rethink everything he/she has already thought. He/she is certain to question the validity of religious and morals as preached by the clergy of different faiths for their own survival. Darwin Siva, Sense of Survivalism. Dheeptha Publications, 1997

7. II- Evolution with no apparent purpose (1) Random nature of evolution does not rule out a divine plan. � Evolution defines a relationship between Creator and created based on moral independence and free will [...] evolution was much more than an indirect pathway to get to you and me. By choosing evolution as his way to fashion the living world, He emphasized our material nature and our unity with other forms of life. He made the world today contingent upon the events of the past. He made our choices matter, our actions genuine, our lives important. In the final analysis, he used evolution as the tool to set us free.� Kenneth Miller, Finding Darwin�s God, Harper and Collins 1999

8. II- Evolution with no apparent purpose (2) Process Theology �A world in evolution does not follow a strict plan but is nonetheless given its being, value, and meaning by God�s vision for it. The God of evolution does not fix things in advance, nor hoard selfishly the joy of creating. Instead God shares with all creatures their own openness to an indeterminate future.� John Haught, God after Darwin 1999

9. II- Evolution with no apparent purpose (3) Even St. Thomas Aquinas argued that a world devoid of chance or contingency could not really be distinct from its God. "It would be contrary to the nature of providence and to the perfection of the world if nothing happened by chance." Thus, the randomness and undirected features of evolution are not just "apparent" as some of the "separatists" would argue. They are, in fact, essential features of any world created by a gracious God. John Haught, God after Darwin 1999

10. II- Evolution with no apparent purpose (4) Darwin himself said: There is grandeur in this view of life; with its several powers having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from a so simple beginning endless forms most wonderful and most beautiful have been, and are being evolved. Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species, 6th ed. Oxford University Press, 1872, p.560

11. What is Non Darwinian Biology? All non-Darwinian theories of Evolution have in common the fact that chance and natural selection are not the ONLY or MAIN factor which drive evolution.

12. III- Self Organization and vitalism (1) Brian GOODWIN Professor of Biology at the Open University, Milton Keynes. � A SCIENCE OF QUALITIES� �Since 1859 the mechanism of natural selection and survival of the fittest has served as the only explanatory thesis for life on earth. Origins, extinctions, adaptations have all been studied exclusively through the lens of Darwinism. There is another explanation for the origin and diversity of species. Like the Newtonian world view that held sway until the Einsteinian revolution in the twentieth century, so Darwinism must be replaced by the theoritical construct that admits that complexity is an inherent and emergent quality of life and not merely the result of random mutations and natural selection. The organisms are as cooperative as they are competitive, as altruistic as they are selfish, as creative and playful as they are destructive and repetitive.� �How the Leopard changed Its Spots� Touchstone Books, 1996

13. III- Self Organization and vitalism (2) Mae-Wan HO Reader of Biology at the Open University, Milton Keynes. � A SCIENCE OF THE ORGANISMS� �Life is a process of being an organizing whole. Life is a process and not a thing, nor a property of a material thing or structure. Life must therefore reside in the patterns of dynamic flows of matter and energy that somehow make the organisms alive, enabling them to grow, develop and evolve. From this, once can see that the �whole� does not refer to an isolated, monadic entity. It refers to a system open to the environment, that enstructures or organizes itself by simultaneously �enfolding� the external environment and spontaneously �infolding� its potential into highly reproductible or dynamically stable forms.� �The Rainbow and the Worm� World Scientific, 1998

14. IV- Purpose in evolution (1) a- Internal Logics Anne DAMBRICOURT Paleoanthropologist in charge of research at the CNRS and at the Human  Paleontology laboratory of the National Museum of Natural History � THE EXPECTED CONSCIOUSNESS� The origin of bipedy comes from an embryonic process. The �craniofacial contraction� goes on for thousands of years no matter what the environmental conditions are. * One of the best research to prove evolution! * One of the best ways to disproof darwinism! Because ... Darwinism implies : * Unpredictibility * Evolution being driven by environmental changes

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16. IV- Purpose in evolution (2) a- Internal Logics Jean CHALINE Paleontologist, Professor and Director of Research at the University of Bourgogne � EVOLUTION HAS A FRACTAL STRUCTURE� �If you put the main events of the history of evolution on a line, you can see a law which shows you the internal logic of evolution. From this law, the next important mutation concerning human beings will be in 0,8 Million years.� �Les Arbres de l�Evolution� /The Trees of Evolution Laurent Nottale,Jean Chaline,Pierre Brov Hachette, 2000 �L�arbre de la Vie a-t-il une structure fractale?� Does the Tree of Life have a fractal structure? Comptes-Rendus de l�Acad�mie des Sciences N�328 (II a), 1999, p. 717-726

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18. IV- Purpose in evolution (3) a- Internal Logics Rosine CHANDEBOIS Professor of Embryology at the University of Marseille � DIRECTIONAL EVOLUTION� �The genetic program of development has only existed in the collective imagination of biologists. (...) All these works bring us towards the same certainty: the recipe of development is not written in the DNA! It is contained within the egg�s cytoplasma which must have a particular molecular composition, and even more, a suitable organization. In other words, the DNA does�t command anything and is certainly not the architect. But because it produces and provides the material for this construction, it gives it its originality.� �The Tree of Life has been made from the first cells, the same way that the tree from the seed, exclusively through a game of internal factors.� �Pour en Finir avec le Darwinisme� To Finish with Darwinism Edition Espace 34, 1993

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20. IV- Purpose in evolution (4) b- Reproductibility of Evolution Michael DENTON Senior Research Fellow in Human Molecular Genetics at the University of Otago (NZ) Ph. D. in Developmental Biology, Kings College, London (UK) � EVOLUTION AS THE DEFENDER OF THE ANTHROPOCENTRIC FAITH� HUMAN LIFE AS A FORM OF LIFE IS THE GOAL OF THE COSMOS. IT IS AN EXTENTION OF THE ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE, FROM THE LAWS OF PHYSICS TO THE LAWS OF CHEMISTRY AND BIOLOGY �All the evidence available in the biological sciences support the core proposition of traditional natural theology : that the cosmos is a specially designed whole with life and mankind as its fundamental goal and purpose; a whole in which all facets of reality, from the size of galaxies to the thermal capacity of water, have their meaning and explanation in this central fact.� �Nature�s Destiny. How the laws of biology reveal purpose in the Universe�. Free Press, 1998

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22. IV- Purpose in evolution (5) b- Reproductibility of Evolution Christian de DUVE Nobel Laureate in Medicine, Biochemist, Professor at the University of  Louvain (BE) and the Rockfeller Univesity in New York (USA) � GOD PLAYS DICES BECAUSE HE IS SURE TO WIN� Life as a cosmic imperative BIOCHEMICAL LAWS PRODUCE SUCH STRICT CONSTRAINTS THAT RANDOMNESS IS CHANNELED AND THAT THE PRODUCTION OF LIFE AND EVEN OF THE THINKING PROCESS BECOME AN OBLIGATION OF THE UNIVERSE, AND THIS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. �According to the theory which I defend, it is in the very nature of life to generate intelligence everywhere (and as soon as) the necessary conditions are united. Conscious thinking belongs to the cosmological map, not as a random epiphenomenon strictly inherent to our biosphere, but as a fundamental manifestation of matter. Thinking is generated and nourrished by life, which is itself generated and nourrished by the remaining cosmos�. �Poussi�re de Vie� Editions Fayard, 1996 �Vital Dust�, Basic Books, 1996

24. IV- Purpose in evolution (6) c- Existance of unknown yet factors Giuseppe SERMONTI Genetician Professor at the University of Perouse, Director of the journal �Biology Forum� � DARWINISM IS NOT ONLY WRONG, IT IS DISHONNEST� MAIN IDEAS ? The passage of one species to another resides in a macro  mutation which cannot be produced by darwinian mechanisms. ? These genetic discoveries don�t confirm the darwinian theory  since mutations are too rarely positive. ? There is a finality in evolution. �Dopo Darwin� Sermonti and Fondi, Editions Rusconi, Milano, 1980

25. IV- Purpose in evolution (7) c ) Directed macro-mutations Marcel Schutzenberger Geneticist and Mathematician, Member of the French Academy of Science (deceased since 1996) � EVOLUTION CANNOT BE CAUSED BY CHANCE� MAIN IDEAS ? Mathematics show that the most complex levels of order found in Nature cannot be generated by darwinian mechanisms. ? Each time that a new phylum appears, it is more complex (for instance at the level of its biochemical synthesis) than the preceeding one. Why wouldn�t dinosaurs have been replaced by scorpios? Darwinism does�t explain this fact. �Mathematical Challenge to Neo-Darwinism� Act of the Wistar SymposiumLivre Club du Labyrinthe, 1986

26. IV- Purpose in evolution (8) c- Existance of unknown yet factors Remy CHAUVIN Ethologist, Professor at la Sorbonne, author of �Biologie de l�Esprit� (Biology of the �mind�), �Dieu des Etoiles, Dieu des Fourmis� (God of the Stars, God of the Ants),  �Darwinisme ou la fin d�un Mythe� (Darwinism or the end of a Myth). �EVOLUTION MAKES SOMETIMES THINGS FOR FUN !� �DARWINISM IS A FAITH (OR A SUPERSTITION)� MAIN IDEAS ? Darwinism is a tautology : it predicts the survival of the fittest. But who are the fittest? Those who survive. ? The power of Natural Selection is much more limited than what darwinians tell us. ? There is a program in evolution and this program seeks to reach a certain number of goals: * one of these goals is the appearance of intelligent beings. * the way that the mind acts on our brain is probably the same one than the way the �evolutionary intention� acts on living matter.

28. IV- Purpose in evolution (9) c- Existance of unknown yet factors Roberto FONDI Paleontologist, Professor at the University of Sienne � NON MATERIAL INFLUENCES MUST HAVE ACTED ON EVOLUTION� MAIN IDEAS ? Species don�t appear randomly, they pre-exist in potential forms. They are the manifestation of archetypes. ? Evolution is discontinued, it goes from one archetype to the other. A program of evolution exists in nature. �La R�volution Organiciste� Roberto Fondi Livre Club du Labyrinthe, 1986 �Dopo Darwin�

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30. IV- Purpose in evolution (10) c ) Directed macro-mutations Jean Dorst Zoologist, member of the French Academy of Science, former Director of the National Museum of Natural History � DARWINISM ONLY EXPLAINS MICRO-EVOLUTION� MAIN IDEAS - Darwinism cannot explain macro evolution (such as the passage of reptiles to birds) since it needs macro-mutations which cannot happen randomly. - �The darwinian scientist is like a man who looks for a black cat in a black room and shouts that he has found the cat ... when there is no cat�. One must look outside of Darwinism for the mechanism of evolution. - There is a design in Evolution and laws which we have not yet identified. �Et si on parlait un peu de la vie?� What about speaking about life? Maisonneuve et Larose, 1999

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32. V- More than purpose: design (1) "An irreducibly complex system is one that requires several closely- matched parts in order to function and where the removal of one of the components effectively causes the system to cease functioning."  �As we reach the end of this book we are left with no substantive defense again what feels to be a strange conclusion: that life was designed by an intelligent agent.� Darwin�s Black Box, Michael Behe, Free Press 1996

33. V- More Than Purpose design (2) Even an atheist Nobel laureate could share this idea! Francis Crick considers the undirected origin of life to be a virtually unsurmountable obstacle, because he wants a naturalistic explanation. So he developed the theory of �Directed Pauspernia: Life on earth may have begun when aliens from another planet sent a ship to earth with the first bacteria. Life Itself, Francis Crick, 1983

34. V- More Than Purpose design (3) I want to argue that design should be readmitted to full scientific status. There exists a reliable criterion for detecting design. This criterion detects design strictly from observational features of the world. Moreover it belongs to probability and complexity and not to metaphysics and theology. This criterion is relevant to biology. When applied to the complex information rich structures of biology it detects design. Intelligent Design, William Dembski, Intervarsity Press, 1999, p. 149

37. CONCLUSION I - Statement from His Holiness Pope John Paul II New knowledge has led to the acceptance of the theory of evolution as more than a hypothesis [�]. And, to tell the truth, rather than the theory of evolution, we should speak of several theories of evolution. This plurality has to do with the different explanations advanced for the mechanism of evolution and with the various philosophies on which it is based [�] Consequently, theories of evolution that are in accordance with the philosophies inspiring them, consider the mind as emerging from forces of living matter, or as a mere epiphenomenon of this matter, are incompatible with the truth about man. Nor are they able to grand the dignity of the person. Message to the members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences,` 22 October 1996

38. Personal Remarks The question of purpose in the biological sciences in certainly one of the most important today whether in the field of scientific research or in the dialogue between science and religion and in the philosophy of science. All opinions are represented even among Catholic scientists and theologians, in a spectrum that goes from Process Theology to Intelligent Design. It seems to me incompatible with the Christian faith to imagine that God exercises no control whatsoever on evolution and therefore that evolution might never have resulted on a conscious being capable of knowing God �Capax Dei�, even if it occurs on only one planets.

39. Therefore I think that the emergence of man was expected, that it was bound to happen one day, somewhere in the universe. It seems to me to be necessary that God respects our free will and our freedom not to believe in him. If he intervenes in evolution this can only be in imperceptible ways. (eg. a reorganization of probabilities at the quantum level that suggests that mutations are random while they are in fact coordinated). It is possible to postulate that such coordinated macro-mutations must have occurred. Though they have never violated the laws of physics and chemistry. Such a position considers that Intelligent Design goes too far and positions such as that of Ken Miller and Christian de Duve do not go far enough.

40. Therefore it seems to me that the theories that are most compatible with Christian theology are those of scientists such as Michael Denton, Remy Chauvin, Rosine Chandebois, Anne Dambricourt. God willing (!) we can hope that their work will be encouraged and strengthened by progress in our knowledge. Though we should not expect them to provide any sort of proof, nor that they should attain hegemonic status in the field of evolutionary biology. What is important is that they continue to exist and provide a credible alternative to philosophical naturalism based on neo-Darwinism