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Chapter 6

Chapter 6. The Protoplasmic Venture. Ostrander & Schroeder write:. “Are you happy? Why did you do all this, why did you struggle so hard…?”

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Chapter 6

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  1. Chapter 6 The Protoplasmic Venture

  2. Ostrander & Schroeder write: “Are you happy? Why did you do all this, why did you struggle so hard…?” “Why! For what!” Nikolaiev leaned forward and one sensed a sort of heraldic thunder rumbling in him. “Why, to be more. What else is life for? To develop all your possibilities. That is happiness, to love what you’re doing, to keep expanding, to keep turning into something more.”

  3. Life • How did the universe as a whole come about? • What is physical matter and how did it originate? • How and when did life begin? • How did human beings come to exist?

  4. Biochemical Evolution • Alexander Oparin (1922) • J.B.S. Haldane (1928) • Stanley Miller (1953) • First laboratory synthesis of a complete mammalian gene (1975) • Cyril Ponnamperuma • George Wald (1957)

  5. The Beginning of Life on Earth • When did life begin on the planet Earth? • Fossil records indicate that life developed sometime between 4.5 billion years ago and 3.5 billion years ago • During that billion-year period, some wonderful and incredible events were taking place

  6. Earth’s Life-Forms: An Inventory • “Hot thin soup” • 1.5 million species of living organisms • 10,000 new species added annually • Estimated 10 million species of organisms exist • Estimated 10 billion species produced by evolution on Earth since planet began

  7. Biogenetic Theories • Panspermia • Spontaneous generation • Hylozoism • Creationism • Vitalism

  8. Can “Life” Be Defined? • What is “life”? • Self-replication • Mutability • Motility • Metabolism • Growth • Irritability • Dynamic Equilibrium

  9. Evolution as a Field Theory • Darwin’s genius: 1) his ability to bring a synoptic mind to these disparate elements and fit them all together; 2) his meticulous gathering of scientific data to support his theory

  10. Evolution’s 3 Basic Processes • The laws of heredity • Mutations produced by changes in the DNA code • The dynamics of natural selection

  11. Five Simple Observations • Species produce like species • There is an enormous excess of reproductive material • Individual variations in genetic characteristics • Competition for food and living room • Environmental niches are dynamic

  12. Evolution: A Meaningful Concept • Given the reproductive potential • Given the enormous gene pool • Given the relentless competition • Given the constantly changing environmental niches

  13. Philosophic Implications • “Do we understand how life evolves”? • What does it mean to say this? • Chemical biogenesis as first-magnitude field theory • Ethical considerations • Cosmic implications

  14. Philosophic Problems • Irreversibility • Convergence

  15. Charles DarwinThe Grandest Synthesis • Darwin saw the key to the puzzle: the mechanism of evolvement is the “struggle for survival” and the “survival of the fittest.” • Under the perpetual threat of starvation and annihilation in the harsh environment, all species of life on Earth continually struggle for survival, and only the fittest survive.

  16. Reflections… • What do you think are the most far-reaching philosophic implications of the biochemical theory of the origin of life? Do you feel a sense of relief that foundations have been laid for an empirical answer to this question?

  17. Humans • This chapter describes the evolutionary context for reflecting on the human situation and suggests that evolution has now taken a new and unpredictable turn

  18. The Sculptor-Gods • Doesn’t human produce human? • There had to be a beginning: something had to create the full sapient form to stand in the flesh and to be half-god, half-clay. • Logically, the first creator of humankind had to be like humans, right? • Maoris, Ewe-speaking tribes, Toradjas, Hebrew, Shilluks

  19. The Story of Human Origins • Homo Sapiens – “wise humans” • Homo Habilis • Australopithecus (Lucy) • Homo erectus

  20. Still Trying to Define “Human” • Physical characteristics • Ethical feelings • Esthetic feelings • Religious feelings • Soul-essence (psyche)

  21. The Killer-Ape Theory • Killing “on principle”…inherited or learned? • Leakey and Lorenz and the killer-ape theory • Montagu’s dispute of the theory • How do we humans differ from our animal kin regarding feelings of aggression? • What distinguishes humans from other animals?

  22. The Immense Journey • Rapid progress in science/technology has radically altered the selective function of the environment • Destruction of our natural environment

  23. Soren Kierkegaard“That Individual” • Now called Existentialism, it is a philosophy of the experiencing human self, and Kierkegaard’s life is the story of one man’s search for what it means to be human • “The thing is to understand myself…to see what God really wishes me to do; the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die.”

  24. Reflections… • Make an attempt to define “human.” How would you describe “essential man”? What are some of the problems we must face in developing a definition?

  25. Earth • This chapter is a meditation on humankind’s relationship to other living creatures on Earth and to the Earth itself. It raises the question of who has a right to control and exploit other species.

  26. Our Place in the Scheme of Things • General evolution • Human evolution • Cultural evolution • 3 stages: 1) Parent-child relationship; 2) man as conqueror; 3) protective feeling toward nature

  27. An Ecospheric Ethic • Who has a right to do what to whom and why? • The notion of “right” • Professor Sessions assessment • Rachel Carson’s attack • St. Francis of Assisi • Professor Charles Hartshorne’s “Ultimate Value” • Professor John Cobb’s “intrinsic criteria”

  28. Coexistence - In Life & Death • Physical/ecological relationships • Psychological/ecological relationships • Why do we kill for pleasure? • Human sacrifice • Anthropomorphizing animal kin: 1) we can’t help it; 2) we want other creatures to like us

  29. “No Man Is An Island” • Each is a part of the whole, subject to the same physical forces that move the atoms and the planets • We are part of an awesome protoplasmic venture

  30. Albert SchweitzerReverence for Life • Reverence for life – “In that principle my life has found a firm footing and a clear path to follow.”

  31. Reflections… • Think about Schweitzer’s Reverence for Life – a concept he believed to be “the realistic answer to the realistic question of how man and the world are related to each other.” How do you feel about this all-inclusive ethic?

  32. Future • This chapter describes several future scenarios, both optimistic and pessimistic

  33. The Theoretical Life • Practical life (praktikos bios) – short-range goals (…versus the…) • Theoretical life (theoretikos bios) – long-range goals

  34. Research Into the Future • Utopias and anti-Utopias • Futures research: 1) forecasting techniques; 2) world catastrophe; 3) world systems; 4) past frameworks obselete • What is the goal of futures research?

  35. Mankind at the Turning Point • A world consciousness • A new ethic in the use of material resources • An attitude toward nature must be developed based on harmony rather than conquest • A sense of identification with future generations

  36. The Futurists & the Future • No single world-picture, although there is remarkable agreement on many points • Short-range futurists • Middle-range futurists • Long-range futurists • Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock • Arthur C. Clarke

  37. A New Kind of Realism • Based on a more objective assessment of empirical data, this realism attempts to project a variety of scenarios in the hope we can, in time, face them and solve them

  38. The Players • Sir Fred Hoyle • Edward O. Wilson • Robert T. McCall • Ray Bradbury

  39. Many Futures: A Common Vision • Today’s world has come unglued, unraveled • There is a pressing need for a sense of global identity and a shared vision of the future – a reason to exist • A shared vision of our common future is therefore enormously important

  40. Friedrich NietzscheThe Glory of Becoming Human • Nietzsche built on a theory of evolution to reinterpret the history of the human race and to lay foundations for his grand vision of the future of mankind • “Will to power” as the basic drive • Ubermensch – “Superman”

  41. Reflections… • Recall the statement that opens this chapter: That we create the past and can also create alternative futures; and that we need both past and future to see ourselves in perspective. How much value is there in this way of looking at ourselves and our place in time?

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