THE SELF CREATING UNIVERSE: THE MAKING OF A WORLDVIEW

Life is full of little resonances and coincidences. One such for me was to find that The Self-Creating Universe, an excellent exposition by SMN member John Clarke, deals with exactly the same theme as another recent title, Incomplete Nature, by Terrence Deacon, reviewed above and referenced by Clarke (John). This theme, in a word, is "emergentism" dealing with emergence of novel, complex systems or entities which arise de novo and rather mysteriously from less complex antecedents. Such novelty-producing processes appear inherently creative, and by implication progressive (although progress may depend on your definition). In seventeen pages of citations I found almost 30 titles, mostly substantive books, containing direct reference to emergence or creativity. So we are evidently dealing with, dare I say it, an "emerging" new paradigm. Sticklers for historical accuracy may wish to point out that concepts of emergence are not new, a century old in fact, so we are really dealing with the "re- emergence of emergence." Fundamental as they are, similarities between Deacon's book and John's end with the central theme and message, which is what John calls the "naturalist presumption." Simply put this position argues that supernatural explanations are not necessary to account for the emergence of mind from life, or life from inert inorganic matter. Otherwise the style and presentation of the two books are very different. John's exposition is pleasantly fluid and clear, whereas Deacon's is extremely dense, twice as long, jargon-filled, difficult to digest easily, and a little shy on addressing the metaphysical and spiritual implications which John discusses in his final chapters. This is not to denigrate Deacon's opus only to alert one not to expect a light read. Both authors hold that emergent novelties arise from entirely natural, if still-poorly-understood, processes and so do not require us to postulate an omniscient consciousness or creative power (mind) that somehow operates independently of matter. In short they reject such scenarios because they lead us into the trap of mind-matter dualism. Just as Teilhard de Chardin and others began in the 20th century to apply the evolutionary paradigm to integrate cosmos (physiosphere), life (biosphere) and mind (noosphere) thereby evolving Darwinism into a more all-embracing evolutionary paradigm, so emergentism serves as a subtler, and more deeply integrated evolutionary hypothesis. Emergentism, then, is based not on the presumption that the extrinsic forces of a hostile world drive fierce competition, or even that the external influences of some mysterious divinity or omnipotent consciousness are at play. Rather, it speaks much more directly to recognising the upwelling (emergence) of intrinsic dynamics of life and mind that we intuitively know to be natural facets of our organic being. We are part of the natural cosmic-organic process (a cosmic belonging) and not somehow divided or separate from some part of it as our self-other consciousness might lead us to believe. In short this paradigm allows us to own and cherish our inner wisdom, whether physiological, psychological or spiritual as our own: to be at home with it and not borrowing or nervously grasping it from elsewhere. To paraphrase Stuart Kauffman, who John often quotes with approval, we begin to recognise God not as the creator outside the world but as the creativity within it. We in turn partake of this creative process, as we constantly come into being, and remain "at home in the Universe." In a rather profound sense a deeper understanding of the ongoing creativity of emergent dynamics is driving, or at least heralding, a new humanistic reformation, a deeper self-realisation of what Teilhard recognised as our inner being, and what Jung recognised as the wisdom of individuation. Paradoxically this process is not about the separateness of individuality but about the wisdom of inner growth and awareness, which only separates us from the icons, idols and false images of the external world, not from the more satisfying, even happy sense of cosmic belonging, which is ultimately our individual and collective birthright. Our ability to individuate is only possible if our consciousness expands both inwardly and outwardly in our relationship with self and others. In short, this involves the evolutionary emergence of new psychological faculties and inner awareness, which in turn allows us to and be self-reflectively involved in the process. This then is a new species of transcendence of inner thresholds, as John aptly puts it "within the compass of nature." There is, he says no need to transcend nature altogether for some otherworldly realm. The kingdom of heaven is after all within you. [Here I am reminded of Mary Midgley's comments on those who envisage a science fiction future where humans use space ships to escape to some new planet once this one has been depleted of its resources. Her suggestion was to clean up our mindset (worldview) at home, a process that requires us to cherish, love and be at home in Earth space. Cosmic belonging begins at home!] John leads us not just to intriguing expositions on how consciousness emerges naturally as life complexifies, especially at the human level, but he also make a compelling case that our moral and spiritual faculties naturally emerge with consciousness to foster what David Tacey calls " a new awareness of living in an enchanted spiritual universe." [It seems to me that this "major cultural shift" itself a creative process goes hand in hand with the self same creation and awareness of emergentism as an intuitively compelling new evolutionary paradigm, easily embraced by science philosophy and religion]. In short, by not dismissing spirit as some mysterious force in some other realm, we draw it to us and own it. In principle it is a ridiculously simple process of unifying our disparate physical and psychological (intellectual) faculties. We are offered a paradigm that integrates science and spirituality, not in a final fixed institution or creed but in a dynamic synergistic and symbiotic process. God, value, morality and purpose emerge out of mind, just as mind emerges out of nature. The future involves tolerance of ambiguity, change and being part of a dynamic organic process involving our own conscious evolution, which in turn keeps our worldview in healthy flux. This does not require passive and fatalistic (lazy) acceptance of a process beyond our control. Rather, we can be active participants in celebrating and liberating the human spirit. The promise of emergentism, is that, like any knowledge properly appreciated, it offers a means to greater awareness that the human spirit arises "naturally" as part of the evolutionary process. Emergentism speaks compellingly to the unity of mind-matter dynamics and to the potential to integrate science and spirituality in a new paradigm, where we can return to our often divided world and know it anew, if not for the first time at least with a sense of cosmic belonging.