I have previously presented widely accepted scientific evidence* indicating that humans and all living organisms are molecular aggregates interacting with other components of the surrounding biosphere in which we are imbedded.
* Cascading Universe, The Integration of Science and Religion by Charles C. Worthington, 2004, Dorrance Publishing Co. Pittsburgh, PA 15222
I also hypothesized that the concept of an almighty god or gods that has been held by all human tribes throughout the world from the earliest man is a product of evolution. In primitive societies (and also some modern ones) individuals not accepting the preaching of tribal leaders and shamen claiming to have an “in” with god were ostracized or killed resulting in the evolution of brains with neural networks receptive to being controlled by charismatic leaders and religious dogma. Such is the case today where rational individualism is for the most part frowned upon.Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene, New Edition, (Oxford University Press, 1989) indicates that the idea of God arose in the meme pool at the dawn of civilization.
Memes are cognitive units of cultural inheritance, ideas that leap from brain to brain as genes are transmitted in the gene pool from body to body.
The survival value of the god meme results from its great psychological appeal. (pg. 193)
A recent book by Eva Jablonka and Marion J. Lamb, Evolution in Four Dimensions: Genetic, Epigenic, Behavioral and Symbolic Variation in the History of Life. (Bradford Books, 2005) further supports this hypothesis.
Epigenesis: a process by which genetic information, as modified by environmental influences, is translated into the substance and behavior of an organism. Jablonka and Lamb restrict this definition to that of specialized cell differentiation during the formation of organs; for example: liver cells. Religious concepts, memes, are products of the symbolic inheritance system. (Chap.6)
The mechanistic philosophy I espouse is essentially that of many thinkers: Soren Kierkgaard, David Hume, Sir Francis Crick, Paul and Patricia Churchland, John R. Searle and most scientists throughout the world. Current neuroscience discoveries all support a reductionist view of life. Brain scans show without a doubt that neuronal activity is responsible for thought processes. By stimulating neurons in particular areas of the cortex with an inserted electrode distinctive thoughts may be experienced. Though the jump from biochemical activity in the brain to self-awareness and behavior is not understood as yet there is absolutely no evidence of spiritual intervention or that of a “soul” operating contrary to natural laws.
The concept that all thought processes, which constitute our stream of consciousness, are in a state of constant flux creating a new universe for each of us at every instant is difficult to comprehend, particularly when it entails an illusory free-will. (Rather than off-handedly relegating this thesis to “tommy-rot” if the reader will stop and think about his/her thoughts as they pop into mind it will become evident that one does not control one’s thinking. You are your thoughts!). This concept is dealt with more extensively in my book: Cascading Universe*.
A recent and boring paper entitled: “How to Reconcile Physicalism and Antireductionism about Biology” by Alex Rosenberg and D.M. Kaplan in Philosophy of Science, (vol.72, 2005, pgs 43-6
, presents philosophical views of this subject. These authors assert that “biology relies on a theory that is not reducible to more fundamental physical theory.”(pg.47). Their claim is based upon the assertion that the Principle of Natural Selection (PNS) is an underived law about biological systems and is emergent from purely physical processes and thus reconcilable with antireductionism.(pg.67). This concept is empirically incorrect.Their final paragraph: “And perhaps most importantly, physicalist philosophers of biology will be free to treat the theory of natural selection as a body of nomological generalizations that really vindicate Dobzhansky’s dictum that nothing makes sense in biology (including molecular biology) except against the background of evolution.” **
** It would appear that the paper by Rosenberg and Kaplan is much blather about nothing. It is beyond me why so many verbose philosophers use esoteric words in convoluted sentences! I suppose that it has to do with appearing scholarly.That said, my message pertains to our demoralized disintegrating society. This phenomenon relates to the widespread enfeeblement of mentality attributable mainly to indiscriminant copulating and a misguided humanitarian cosseting of human life sparked by the religious notion that human life is sacred. The dysgenic propagation of the cerebrally incompetent is a problem that civilized society is unwilling to cope with. However, resolved it will be! Former civilizations have unraveled with civil strife and chaos, ours will do likewise. Our demise will be much more devastating since modern man has available means not only to kill one another but to blot out all life on Earth. Forget not: humanity is as nothing in the universe as it pursues its course into eternity.
Another very pertinent factor is the depletion of natural resources. According to James H. Kunstler in The Long Emergency – Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century, (Atlantic Monthly Press, N.Y. 2005) America is sleepwalking into turbulent times just ahead as the millions of years of stored energy in the form of oil, coal and natural gas are used up. He describes what living will be like when there is no electricity and transportation and recommends living in a small rural village as offering the best chance for survival. His treatment of the social consequences is far more benign than I would project taking into consideration the plight of poor, densely-packed city-dwellers trapped without food, electricity, amenities or governance. Granted, there is little we can or will do about it. Praying to God is not going to help. Our best bet is recognizing reality and being self-reliant or “Prime Movers” to use Ayn Rand’s terminology in Atlas Shrugged for those people with the courage and ability to survive. Her moral code is that man is an end in himself and not to be subjected to exploitation by others.
Ayn Rand, who will always be associated with Libertarianism, in her last novel, Atlas Shrugged, describes the destruction of a society dominated by a government of parasitical bureaucrats who expropriate private means of production at the expense of the creative geniuses who built such facilities. They excuse such theft by claiming the needs of society must come first. They assert it evil to be a success since that implies strength at the expense of the weak. By their reckoning all “private property”, purchased or inherited is held only at the whim of the government. It should be noted that in our crowded United States today the illegal use of eminent domain is becoming more and more prevalent. Municipalities are taking over private property for additional shopping areas and private usage. Our bureaucratic government with its dictum that all people are of equal ability is tending toward that of Rand’s book.
Her philosophy was that one should live as a moral responsible individual for one’s own self-interest, with one’s own perception of reality and happiness. She indicates that morality is the judgment to distinguish right from wrong, vision to see the truth and have the courage to act upon it. She stresses further, that no one has the right to a product of another man’s labor.It has been said that libertarianism is a soulless philosophy that promotes radical individualism at the expense of traditional Christian American ideals and that relegates religion to ones’ persona. I wholeheartedly agree and am all for it!
Individualism necessarily follows my belief that every living organism is a world unto itself. The life of all animals, (humans are certainly animals) constitutes a stream of biochemical reactions to ambient stimuli. From a rational point of view, as I explain in Cascading Universe?, it could not be otherwise. Thus all values are self-centered and each is responsible for their own behavior. One of society’s problems is making people realize that each is responsible for his/her actions and holding them to it.
Radical individualism could never take hold given our feeblemindedness as indicated by the widespread belief in God, not as an unknown force that set off the Big Bang, but a father-figure to whom one turns for help and forgiveness; not just here in the West but throughout the world. The intensity of belief in Allah by Muslims has resulted in much savage warfare.
God, if there is one, certainly is not the loving heavenly father proclaimed in Christian doctrine. This is evidenced by wars, plagues and the overall unhappy, poverty-stricken state of the world with its natural and man-made calamities, such as racial cleansing and tsumanies, that wipe out millions of innocent people. It might be noted here that according to my doctrine every feature and activity in the universe is due to the nature of the particles of energy of which it is composed. For further insight see Cascading Universe*.
What pageantry when Pope Paul John II , God’s viceroy on Earth, died! Millions of people gathered in Rome to mourn his demise although actually they should have been celebrating his entrance into Heaven to sit with God. (I often wonder about Heaven. It must be densely populated; on the other hand maybe God shall only admit those who humble themselves before him and the weeping statues of the mother of Jesus.)
Cardinals in their theatrical costumes and with pomp and ceremony put on their act: kissing the sarcophagus, praying to God for advice and parading around the Vatican preparing to elect a new Holy Father. As this is being written Benedict XVI has been selected. (Unfortunately, it is said that he is conservative and will carry out the short-sighted agenda of John Paul II)
It was good theater. Pope John Paul II, in spite of his inconsistency about the sanctity of life and the millions of deaths he caused by his edict against condoms and birth control, provided charismatic leadership for some 1.1 billion devout Catholics, his flock. With such a large following, many of the world’s politicians paid him heed. President and Mrs Bush knelt in obeisance at the coffin. It is to these simple-minded people, along with most of mankind, embarked as it is on an emotional journey to certain destruction, that I address in this commentary.
Charismatic preachers of religion, any religion, with their dogmatic cant about speaking for God, a loving heavenly Father who cherishes each and everyone of us, are without question mostly responsible for the sorry state we find ourselves in today. The clergy, even the televangelists, are but ignorant specimens of humanity and possibly sincerely believe in their message, as far fetched as it is. After all they are, just as we all are, products of neural networks and part and parcel of the throbbing, integrated universe.
With all my commentaries and writing it is my aim to point out the absurd and greedy behavior of society in hopes of making it more rational and to eliminate overwhelming government. Each individual should be responsible for their own life and in no way be dependent upon society. As I have stated elsewhere: Man is not his brother’s keeper.
Why should a reader accept my conjectures as valid? Primarily because they take into account the realities of the world with all of its baseness. The great minds of the past all sought understanding based upon the realities of their worlds. During the Enlightment, a period beginning in the seventeenth century our civilization really blossomed forth. Dick Taverne in The March of Unreason (Oxford University Press 2005) presents an excellent over-view of the development of our society up to the present.
At the heart of our perceptions is the matter of “truth”.
(For more on “truth”, which depends upon the beholder, see page 8 of Cascading Universe)?Unfortunately, most religious people, which represent a large majority of the population, seem to be cerebrally incompetent and thus blindly accept without question the nonsense that “the men of God” spew forth. The fact that religion is infiltrating our no-brain bureaucratic government is of great concern. Our idiotic president who claims to be in close contact with God, in rejecting support of stem cell research stated: “The use of federal dollars to destroy life is something I simply do not support.” It should be noted that stem cell research may prove very valuable in saving human life. Furthermore only frozen embryos would be used which otherwise will be tossed down the drain. All the while billions of federal dollars are being spent to destroy life in Baghdad in an elective war started by Bush at the behest of God. A war against a small country that presented no threat to us.
One of the more discouraging characteristics of current social trends is the lowering of educational standards whereby children with persistent learning disabilities are catered to with special education at the expense of gifted children who will be our future leaders. It is sheer stupidity to foist academia on students lacking intellectual interests.
Our children should be encouraged to emulate our illustrious pioneer forefathers who were individualists with powerful creative minds and productive energy, who took pride in self-reliance and living by their own efforts. They did not expect society to take care of them.
The major problem facing our nation today and the reason libertarianism is an impossible dream are the increasing hordes of feeble-minded whiners who possess no ability, live as parasites, multiply like rabbits, and expect others to pay their bills. They are taking over the land like a cancer, contributing nothing and diluting our original pioneering American spirit.
ADDENDUM
In view of the catastrophic anti-American decision of the Supreme Court (23 June ’05) to allow a government to confiscate private property I would suggest that the Connecticut Minutemen, organized at the behest of the Continental Congress on 18 July 1775 to fight tyranny, be mobilized to defend the private property that the City of New London Plans to seize.
U r very stupid man!!!!!