Professional Documents
Culture Documents
by
Sanborn C. Brown, PhD
Professor of Physics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
—Prepared in the mid1960s for a discussion group of the Unitarian Universalist
Church, Lexington, Massachusetts.
The Nature of God and Man
I Introduction...............................................................1
II The Methodology of Science...................................9
III Cosmic Evolution and the Physical Sciences......19
IV Evolution and the Biological Sciences.................29
V Social and Religious Evolution.............................37
VI God, Man and Immortality...................................45
VII Is a New Religion Necessary?...............................53
VIII Glossary...................................................................65
I Introduction
M
strange vagueness which best conveys
the most terrifying part of our
predicament – and the essence of the
an's search for the meaning and the terror within us and without us.
purpose of his life has been one of his
major concerns since he first Irwin Goodenough wrote a most
developed as a thinking being, about remarkable book, The Psychology of
100,000 years ago. In the beginning, Religious Experience, and in it he has
religion was an attempt to understand, an interesting statement about religion
to accept, and in a way, hopefully to in terms of the “tremendum:”
control the phenomena of nature
which seemed pressing in about man "Man throws curtains between
on every side – and one of the himself and the tremendum and
common reactions of scientists before on them he projects accounts of
they get deeply committed to how the world came into
wondering about religion is that this existence, pictures of divine or
fear which drove him to ancient superhuman forces or beings that
religions surely has been dispelled in control the universe and us, as
the modern age because of the better well as codes of ethics, behavior
understanding of nature. and ritual which will bring him
favor instead of catastrophe. So
Actually, however, I think that what has every man protected himself
our modern knowledge does is to by his religions."
make it absolutely necessary for us to
reassess our understanding of religion Now, for myself, I do not believe
and to try and develop a philosophy either the concept of religion as an
and theology which is agreeable to our explanation for man's place in the
present knowledge of science. Now, of universe or the image, graphic as it
course, there is more to religion than may be, that religion is a curtain
man's desire to understand himself, protecting us from coming face to face
his origins, and his natural with the "tremendum." I do not think
environment. Man, of all the animals, this gives religion the impelling
has the mental power to anticipate necessity which I believe it has.
coming agonies. He is inherently an
anxious animal fearful of the threat, Perhaps the most spectacular
and defense of threats, which Rudolf development in recent history has
Otto termed the "tremendum." This is been the truly amazing rise of the
a Latin word which translates as "the importance of science and the effect it
source of terror." And the word is a is having on every facet of human life.
particularly good one because of its As science continues to heighten the
1
dichotomy between the natural and generate new concepts which are
the supernatural, a gulf is widening perhaps more in tune with our present
between modern man with his day living than current religions. For
increasing sophistication about the example, I believe that our Christian
nature of the world about him and the tradition needs some very basic
traditional tenets of religion – many of modification. I think if you tried to
which are based on obviously false analyze what the basis of Christian
and disproven facts. religion is, one could sum it up by the
single word "love." In fact, we often
For years, liberal thinkers have been hear from the Christian pulpit that
trying to patch up the conflict, God (and I will define this term in a
relegating outmoded theology to the little while) is love, in other words, the
realm of symbolic representations, concept of brotherly love was the basic
teaching their children and their change that Jesus introduced when
congregation the magic and poetry of Christianity had its beginning.
religious writings based on known
fantasies and trying somehow to However, from a scientific point of
reconcile the theology of primitive view, one sets up a framework and
man to 20th century insights. It is, in then does an experiment to see how
my opinion, about time we stopped the hypothesis upon which the
this attempt to compromise the new experiment is based fits the facts. We
with the old and start to work toward all know the facts, unfortunately.
developing a valid and inspiring Christendom has been at war almost
theology for the modern world based continuously since its rise to political
on our present state of knowledge. power in the middle ages. Nazi
Germany was a Christian culture
Now, of course this search is not new. which decimated the Jews. It is
The anthropologists tell us that in the Christian United States that is this
span of the 100,000 years that Homo evening bombing Viet Nam.
Sapiens has been a thinking animal
roughly 1,000 culturally distinct Now this is just an illustration of the
human communities can be fact that if our current religion is
recognized. Furthermore, a religion giving us a sufficient motivation to
changes in distinct entity about every practice its major tenets — then as a
1,000 years. If we pursue the scientific experiment it appears to be a
arithmetic we arrive at a figure of failure and a new set of hypotheses
about 100,000 different religions needs to be developed which
produced by man since Neanderthal hopefully can have a more compelling
time. validity.
What I would like to propose, I will not for a minute suppose that
therefore, is based on our modern what I will outline to you as a concept
traditional religion. We should of a theology will be able to do this.
2
My only hope is that by discussions of social grief groups disunite and
this sort mankind, as a whole, can disband.
develop a theology which does have
an impelling validity for us as we are On the other hand we universally
living. Let me remind you that the title labor at the contrary process of
of this discussion is "The Nature of organization. Great effort is spent to
God and Man," which implies the prevent rust, corrosion, decay, rot,
nature of religion. sickness, death and disillusion. And,
at least in local groups, they achieve
Let me talk about religion from a point gains in organization or revitalization
of view of an anthropologist, and as the most diverse creeds attempt to
quote a statement or definition from solve the riddle of the relationship
Anthony Wallace in a paper given at between life and death, organization
the Institute on Religion in an Age of and disorganization, the ideas of souls,
Science at Star Island in July of 1961. of God, of Nirvana, of spiritual
salvation and rebirth, of "progress" are
He introduced into our vocabulary the all formal solutions to the problem
general term "revitalization which seems to be felt intimately by all
movement" to denote any conscious of us.
organized effort by members of a
society to construct a more satisfying Religion may be said to be a process of
culture and he concludes that most maximizing the quantity of organ
revitalization movements can be ization in the matrix of perceived
characterized as religious. He points human experience. A direct expression
out that all religions and religious of our organization instinct and if I
productions, such as myth and rituals, may again turn to Wallace’s useful
come into existence as part of a term you will understand I am using
program or code of religious religion in its most general meaning of
revitalizations, usually originating in a "revitalization movement," whether
situations of social and cultural stress, it be a revealed religion like
as efforts on the part of the stress Christianity, or a political faith like
laden to construct systems of dogma, communism. We regard these as
myth, and ritual which will serve as extreme, but both have identical
guide to effective rescue. characteristics of man's apparently
instinctive drive to develop a socio
The essential theme of religion is the political religious order out of
conflict between disorganization and disorder, integration out of
organization. On the one hand, we disintegration, and life out of death.
universally observe and are distressed
by disorganization in religious Now one of the characteristics of the
systems. Metals rust and corrode — socalled scientific approach to
wood and cloth rot — people sicken understanding is to agree for the
and die — personality disintegrates — purposes of a discussion and
3
argument on the definition of words to times the distance in which the force
be used within the framework of a acts. Some years ago I was giving a
particular study. One does not have to lecture in freshman physics at M.I.T.
agree with the validity of the and I was talking about the term
definition to use it in discussing a “work.” On the lecture table there was
theoretical construct, but only agree to a large weight which, in the
the same meaning of the word within engineering definition of mass, is
the context of the discussion. This is called a slug. It weighed 32 lbs. And
probably one of the most when it got to my definition of work I
misunderstood facets of the scientific carried the 32 lb. weight around at
method. For people who have not arms length telling the students that I
been trained as scientists it worries was doing no work. According to the
them that they can agree on a definition, I was not.
definition to argue about without
agreeing on the definition. The next day when I was unable to
pick up the chalk to write on the
However, this is a powerful advantage blackboard because I had so strained
in the scientific analysis of a tentative my back I was able to make quite a
hypothesis and it is the one I want to point with my students about the
use throughout this seminar. In other difference in definitions between the
words, I am giving you full license to physical definition of work and what
completely disagree with the contents the normal public thinks work is.
of my definition but still to agree that
when I use a word it will be as I define We are going to do this in the process
it. of this course. In this seminar I would
like to develop a glossary of defined
I will write down the definition in terms, which we must agree on as to
each case so we will be sure we know meaning for the purpose of our
what we are talking about, and then discussion whether or not we have a
argue about it within that definition. personal commitment to its validity. I
will have a personal commitment to it
The misunderstanding of this among but you may not.
the general public is quite amazing
sometimes and I am always tempted The first term I would like to define is
to tell a story on myself which one that I have used a number of times
involves precisely this. The definition so far without definition and that is
of a word in one context may be quite the word theology. I would like to
different to a definition in another define theology here as any critical
context. intellectual attempt to understand the
beliefs and practices of a religious
A physicist who lectures to elementary community.
physics courses is very used to
defining the word "work" as a force
4
I would define religion as that activity cherished goal but also in the face of
by which man attempts to find his the absolutely certain death of his only
place in the universe, tries to develop body.
valid goals for himself and his fellow
man within the framework of the The doctrine of the determinance of
forces which control his destiny. man's destiny requires a recognition of
any pertinent realities outside of man
The thing that I am specifically not as well as his own role. And the great
saying here is the following: I do not religions of the world have their
mean by religion that elaborate super beliefs about God or a god or some
structure of myth and magic by which reality or realities whose power vastly
primitive man tried to understand and transcends man if they do not ordain
control the physical world. The all, and actually man not only is ruled
attempt to tie the laws of physics to and ruled completely by these rules
supernatural gods and demons has so but he must somehow cooperate with
confused the development of religion them to be saved or redeemed or to
that many thinkers of every age have have a life better now or sometime
often denied the validity of rational hereafter. Religions also have their
religious enterprise until they clearly beliefs about what it is man must do
differentiated between bad science for his part in the program of the
and respectable theology. general salvation of mankind.
What I really mean by this definition My belief is that we can describe these
of religion is that it is the activity of matters of religion in the language of
man to attempt to find his place in the contemporary science, and come up
universe and try to develop valid with emotionally and motivationally
goals for himself and his fellow man effective as well as realistic belief for
within the forces (whatever they might renewing man’s sacred values in
be) which do control his destiny. The guiding his salvation.
all pervading search of man to include
the sacred values with some notion of Moreover, I think we will be surprised
his destiny or meaning, what duties how closely these scientifically
and hopes they present, and what man grounded notions will correspond to
must do for his part to cooperate with the essential elements of the great
these natural forces is the basic activity traditional systems of religious belief
which religion often embraces. when certain semantic translations,
certain use of this dictionary which I
The doctrine of man’s long range would like to develop as we go along,
destiny requires a notion not only of are applied to the words we use. We
his fate tomorrow, but his fate in will develop a tentative scheme, in
eternity, a doctrine of the meaning other words, for such scientifically
fulness of life in the face not only of grounded religious beliefs throughout
more immediate frustration of their the course of this seminar.
5
What I will develop in this seminar is He writes as follows — under a
my own belief that the sum total of chapter called The Administration of
everything in the universe, including the Universe:
man, is the forces of nature.
“The rubric ‘Administration of
Now nature has been a common word the Universe' may be used as
used in many times. Let me pick out valid scientific designation. It
two particular examples of what I simply asserts that there is
mean just to put it into somebody something pertaining to the
else’s words besides my own. Let me universe which governs the
take T. H. Huxley who in 1872 in his manifold operations under
book Science and Christian Tradition investigation and makes them
wrote: amenable to intellectual
comprehension.
“The term nature covers the
totality of that which is. I am “Nothing whatsoever is implied
unable to perceive any concerning the nature of that
justification for cutting the something, what it may be is left
universe into half, one natural wide open for further study.
and one supernatural.” Specifically, theologians should
note that administration is not
Or, let me take Santayana’s statement
synonymous with administrator.
in his Reason and Common Sense:
The latter term has connotations
“Nature is the sum total of
that are not necessarily ruled out
things potentially observable.
of consideration in connection
Some observed actually, others
with the former but they are
interpolated hypothetically.”
definitely not applied when the
former term is used in a scientific
Now, whenever you start worrying
context.
about the totality of nature, one must
deal with words which cause a great
“On the other hand, the
deal of trouble. To illustrate this
theologian who truly believes
problem, let me quote from another
that God is spirit and not a
book which I hope we can get as a
material entity will find a
background book for this seminar. The
significant similarity between his
book is called Science Ponders
'god of law' and the scientist’s
Religion, edited by Harlow Shapley
administration of the universe.”
and published by Appleton Century in
1960. This is a collection of statements
Now this statement of Kirtley
from various people. I would like to
Mather’s brings me to the last
choose one from Kirtley Mather who
is a retired geologist from Harvard.
6
definition I want to take up tonight. “The socalled triumph and
That is the definition of God. dominance of man over nature
and the doctrine of scientific
You will notice that I believe in the knowledge now makes man
scientific approach to words and if more than ever master of his own
there are useful words you use them. fate, is completely superficial and
You may have to define them for the erroneous. We cannot alter one
purposes of your discussion but I jot of the cosmic law — whether
think it is silly not to use some it be the law of gravity or the
perfectly good words like 'god.' So let amount of energy available to
me define God. support life on earth.
My definition of God, for the purpose “A more exact way of reporting
of this seminar, is an image of a the human condition is to say
unitary system which ordains all that that the cosmos has given to man
was and is to be — omnipotent, his life and his powers to know
omnipresent, eternal, and infinite, and cooperate with the laws of
creator and sustainer of life and source the cosmos such that man
of all values, goals, duties, and hopes becomes increasingly an
for that life. You will also discover that incarnation of what the cosmos
I believe this is also synonymous with had decreed for successful and
the term nature. advancing life patterns.
Now as an added statement I would “In his power for life man shares
like to read a statement which is in with all other living forms certain
line with the definition I have written powers to take from his
down for God, which comes from a environment certain elements
book (which isn't yet published — and needed for his life or to reject
I’m going to read from the lethal elements. In this process he
manuscript) by Ralph Burhoe who is a may, within limits, mold or
professor at the Meadville Theological manipulate certain aspects of the
School in Chicago: environment to suit his needs.
"Man is completely, one might “These are gifts of the cosmos to
say absolutely, dependent upon man, not powers that man himself
this reality — this reality being originated. In no case can man
the reality of life. No human advance his life by any means
thought, feeling or action can which the cosmos has not
take place apart from it. Such is implicitly sanctioned already. Any
the faith of those who have infringements by man of the
contemplated those implications sacred rules of life can only lessen
of the scientific world view. his powers for life — for there is
7
no power or capacity for life apart
from the incarnation of those
sacred conditions or patterns
which only the cosmos
determines. It is only by the grace
of this cosmic reality which
incarnates its laws in the
genotype, the brain, and the
culture of man, that man has any
power of life at all.
“Looked at in any depth, the
scientific picture of man is one of
complete dependence on the
cosmos, that man's role,
opportunity, duties, perquisites
and hopes in this scheme maybe
we shall discuss in the future.
But first it is important to recognize
that man is ultimately utterly
dependent for all he was, is and
may be, upon the cosmos.”
8
II — The Methodology of Science and Theology
I
search for some indication of rigid
order. The early beginnings of science
are tremendously impressive as
define science as man's search for the primitive man began to probe the
possibilities of an ordered universe. It
organization of the universe. I would
like to examine the methodology of is worth turning back the pages of
history and try to capture the immense
science and see how it is employed in
building up the intellectual structure intellectual leaps that some keen
minds must have made, first, to
that we term scientific knowledge. The
basic assumption that we must make if conceive of the concept of order, and
then to lay plans to prove such a
such a search is to have any meaning
whatever is that there exists an remarkable hypothesis.
organization. And that there is a
fundamental order and regularity to If the sun were really a flaming
chariot, guided by some god through
nature to be found for the searching.
Science, as we know it, cannot exist in the sky, then the god in human image
must surely be susceptible to human
the face of the beliefs that the
operation of natural phenomena are failure. Some days he would sleep
longer than other days, some days in
subject to fickle variation either from a
naturally occurring lack of order or his enthusiasm he would race across
the sky, and on the days when he had
more anthropomorphized whim of
gods and demons. a headache he would not have the
energy to use the whip on his horses.
Since the assumption of order is so It all seems so completely logical.
basic, science could not develop as an
intellectual framework until such basic The passage of time is a difficult and
sophisticated concept to consider. Yet
assumptions were believed to be true
— and the acceptance of criteria of the intellectual geniuses among the
ancient Samaritans not only
credibility based on observational
predictability became a cornerstone in recognized the importance of this
concept, but they were brilliant
the framework of scientific
methodology. I define “criteria of enough to devise experiments in
which they measured time in terms of
credibility” as acceptable tests of a
given hypothesis to check its space coordinates, building great
temple structures so precisely laid out
agreement with known facts within
the framework of contemporary in terms of the positions of the sun at
the equinoxes that their measurements
knowledge.
of the number of days in the year were
done to an accuracy of about 1%.
The early beginnings of science were
founded directly on ancient man’s
9
Before the dawn of written history, the bear on the human character, our
prehistorics conceived of order and hopes, our aspirations, our loves, our
predictability in the universe, and hates and the whole gamut of our
invented methods to demonstrate emotions.
these. Perhaps because of these
origins, order and predictability came Let me take another example from the
to be regarded as a basic element in field of art. In Phase I, we must learn
the scientific approach to knowledge. to use the materials — the paints,
Now the intellectual discipline of brush, chisel, canvas, metal, the stone.
science is not unique in its operation. In Phase II, one learns to form the
To emphasize this point let me point drawing, to put the paint together to
out its similarity to the acquisition of express one’s art form in a unified
knowledge in other fields. The whole. However, we do not recognize
development of knowledge can be Phase II as real art. It is not until the
differentiated into three phases: human aspect or emotions are
transferred to the canvas or the bronze
Phase I, the acquiring of facts and that we reach Phase III and something
basic concepts; of real value has been contributed.
Phase II, the application of these facts Now science has the same three
and basic concepts for skills to extend phases, Phase I contains the collection
the boundaries of the discipline; and of facts, the laws and postulates, the
mathematical formulation and the
Phase III, the deep penetration into the array of basic building blocks which so
fundamentals which produce a basic often frighten the nonscientist. Phase
understanding of the inter II involves the application of this
relationship of knowledge and the knowledge to the extension of
facts which lead to further knowledge and to the technologically
implications of this knowledge. These useful devices which unfortunately
three phases are typical of many the layman often confuse with science
branches of human endeavor. itself. But not until Phase III does the
scientist reach the appreciation of the
Let me draw a couple of illustrations understanding of nature, its unity and
outside of science. Take for example its beauty, as well as its impact on
the study of language. Phase I consists lives and emotions of modern man.
of learning the words and grammar;
Phase II, the application of this One could ask the question whether I
learning to reading and writing— here am implying that the discipline of
we have the tools for communication science can basically be differentiated
and for acquiring further knowledge. from that of art and language. The
But the real essence of the value of answer is, of course, that there is a
language does not come until Phase III difference. But the difference does not
where prose and poetry are brought to lie in the mechanism of acquiring
10
knowledge. But rather that the the basic facts in the field one wishes
characteristic which sets the scientific to study, and to create a model. I am
discipline apart from other fields of using model in the technical sense of
intellectual endeavors is its particular an intellectual framework constructed
set of criteria of credibility. A scientist in agreement with the accepted facts,
does not know what truth is, but he which provide working hypotheses
has developed a remarkably successful for understanding and implemen
attitude of mind which allows him to tation.
reach a consensus with his peers, to
test what is acceptable as an Now, what you do then is to invent a
explanation for natural phenomena model, an intellectual structure, of
and what is unacceptable. how facts may be used to explain the
observation. Furthermore, such a
One of the real difficulties in following model may be used to predict further
the course of scientific development in facts to be looked for which may not
the historical sense is that the agreed now be known. Often this is called the
criteria of credibility change as a process for creating a hypothesis. But
science develops. For example, one of my own feeling is that the term
the historical results of using the hypothesis has come to be used in too
concept of order and predictability as narrow a sense. To me, a model is the
a basic argument for credibility led the whole picture, and the hypothesis is a
ancients to the concept that self guess in a particular area.
consistency could serve as a basis for
truth in the scientific sense. Anyone After a model has been put together, a
who has studied the emergence and scientist must test it in every way that
decline of the formalism of Greek his imagination can suggest. I would
logic, which was based on the self like to take as a single illustration one
consistency of hypothesis and from the theory of heat. For years and
conclusion, knows that this whole years people believed that heat was a
formalism has not proved generally fluid which you could pour into a bar
useful as an overall methodology in (of metal) and it expanded because it
science. took some space or it went from one
place to the other because it flowed
The necessity for change in the criteria down hill, not literally, but
of credibility is an inherent feature of figuratively speaking, from hot to
scientific methodology and an cold. In fact, many of the words we
understanding of its operation is still use when we talk of heat are
fundamental to an appreciation of based on this fluid theory.
science.
As time went on it became obvious
Let me review the basic operation of there were some observations which
the scientific approach to gaining could not be explained easily by a
knowledge. What one does is to collect fluid theory of heat and an energy
11
theory was postulated. For 200 years just been thought up, very crude
both these theories were taught in agreement may winnow the wheat
universities because there was not from the chaff and open new vistas of
enough data to separate one from the understanding.
other. Subsequently the fluid theory of
heat dropped out of sight and the It is true in physics at least that Nobel
energy theory of heat is the one we prizes are more often won for
now use. agreement between theory and an
experiment within a factor of ten than
The important thing, however, is that the highly precise agreement with
within the framework of the known refined models. This leads to the
facts, the criteria of credibility were obvious conclusion that two different
unable to decide the difference models at the same time can explain
between an unacceptable theory and all the known facts.
an acceptable one. And therefore both
were used. This is characteristic of the Intellectual modelmaking as I have
search for knowledge in terms of described it for science is by no means
models which we create and then use unique, as I hope you realize, to these
in various ways. disciplines. The search for truth in
Let me say again what I’ve just said theology and religion can be cast in
about this criteria of credibility, the same mold. In theology also we
because I want you to realize that this can set up a model and validate the
is not characteristic only of the credibility of what we believe to be
scientific approach to knowledge but true in terms of agreement or
obviously also is applicable to disvalidate the agreement with the
theology and religion. What makes a model.
model acceptable are the following:
Take the case within the Christian
First, a model must agree with tradition of the authority of the bible.
experimental facts to a sufficient We do not have to believe that the
accuracy that an acceptable model bible is an accurate historical
may be differentiated from a statement to appreciate that here is the
unacceptable one. No agreement is searching, the struggling, and the
perfect since no model is perfect; thinking of approximately 2,000 years
disagreement may mean either an of people in the human race,
imperfect model or an imperfect set of represented and symbolized for our
observations, and in general, one may consideration — here is a testimony to
not know which is the case. In very a people who survived about as much
refined models which come from travail and anguish as any people
theories which have been tested for a could be asked to submit to. But it was
long time the necessary accuracy for more than survival. It was survival
credibility may require great precision with a development of thought and
whereas new models, ones that have quality of being, a chronicle of real
12
ethical development, the testimony of behavior, what one can or cannot eat,
a whole culture which has weathered or even touch.
the “hell and high water” of history.
It also tells how to atone for
It is a model by which to test the transgression of the law, and the
criteria of credibility in theology as incredibly harsh punishment for those
surely as the similar procedure in who really disobeyed the laws. But
science. It is also obvious to all of us more than that, it dictated how
that there are other theological commerce shall be regulated, how to
models, testaments of other religions thresh and to reap and to breed cattle;
against which to validate the goals it outlined requirements for medical
which we live by and strive for which treatment of the sick, and how one
appear just as credible for large was not to cut one’s hair or trim one’s
segments of mankind and yet whose beard.
basic hypotheses are quite at variance
with the tenet of the Christian bible. The integration between theology and
Thus in theology, as in physics, religions on the one hand, and cultural
different acceptable models may be evolution on the other, is in the
credible for different cultures direction that theologies grow out of
simultaneously, and within the state of cultures, not cultures out of theologies.
knowledge of these cultures they are So as the ancient Hebrew Bedouin
equally valid. tribe became more agricultural and
Now you could ask the question, started moving into cities and towns,
”Where does one look for criteria of the rigid religious model given to us in
credibility for a theology?” I believe Leviticus began to change and many
that these criteria are found in the of the stories we teach our children in
success of the religious practices based school are the stories of the changing
upon the theology in question. And by models based essentially on the same
success I mean, how well does it theological model. The criteria of
provide us with valid goals and credibility were changing and the
aspirations as well as a culturally validity of the ancient religious model
viable medium for living with others. called into question. Let me illustrate
some of these, particularly in terms of
It was to serve as an illustration of this your reading of Leviticus.
that I asked you to read Leviticus.
Leviticus is an example of a religious You found that Leviticus was very
model agreed to by the ancient specific about mediums and wizards.
Hebrew nomadic tribes to guide their “Do not turn to mediums and
behavior in conformity with a wizards.” “A man or a woman who is
particular theological concept of a a medium or a wizard shall be put to
jealous God regulating the behavior of death, they shall be stoned with
a chosen people. It outlines in great stones.” And yet, if you remember the
detail the laws, for example, of sexual story of Saul in 1st Samuel when he
13
was in trouble fighting David he went theory of heat, the caloric theory and
to the witch of Endor and assured her the energy theory were both models
that if she could call up Samuel he which as far as one could tell were
would relieve her of any fear of being acceptable for some period of time.
stoned to death. In other words, he
was transgressing some of the specific Having brought into focus the concept
laws in Leviticus. of model building, let me suggest that
orthodox theology has constructed
Or we can take another one. You many models which, though passing
remember that Leviticus said very the test of credibility when they were
specifically that “one must not enunciated, have not kept pace with
uncover one’s nakedness,” and if so it our knowledge in other fields.
meant expulsion from the tribe. Yet
perhaps you remember again the story The strength of a viable theology, as
about how David when he was well as a viable religion based upon it,
bringing the ark into Jerusalem must surely lie in the recognition that
danced naked in front of the ark and model building is a dynamic and
he got away with it. True, Michel (the evolving intellectual enterprise. Just as
daughter of Saul — she was his first scientists are constantly improving,
wife) was very angry at him, but updating, revising, and even rejecting
otherwise nothing happened to him at their models in their search for clearer
all. It says in Leviticus, if a man understanding of the operation of
commits adultery with the wife of his nature, so should the theologians be
neighbor, both the adulterer and the constantly working on their models.
adulteress shall be put to death. And If the methodology of science has any
yet we teach our children about David relevance to other intellectual
and Bathsheba. Also it says in disciplines, there is a keystone which
Leviticus that “he who kills a man must be accepted as central. A model
shall be put to death,” and in the same is only good as long as it agrees with
story of David and Bathsheba you all the known facts within the
remember that he sent Bathsheba’s accuracy of observation. When it no
husband into the forefront of the battle longer does this, it must be rejected
so that he would be killed and so that without sentimentality and a more
he could have Bathsheba for himself. applicable one sought for.
The purpose for bringing this up is to This lack of attachment for no longer
give you illustrations of changing credible models is perhaps one of the
religious models when the criteria of most misunderstood facets of the
credibility of an older model were no operation of science. When in 1958,
longer culturally and/or intellectually Yang and Lee received the Nobel prize
acceptable. In the overlapping for destroying one of the main
generation both models were possible conservation laws of modern physics
solutions just as in the case of the the general public was amazed that
14
the physicists acclaimed the discovery as a powerful tool in suggesting ways
as a great step forward instead of to validate a theory, cosmologists
being defensive and alarmed that their turned to testing conflicting models by
ideas had been incorrect for so long. extrapolating time to zero and infinity.
By contrast, in theology modelsolving
is not generally acceptable and I The conditions for testing the details
would like to persuade you that it of stellar evolutionary theory to
must be. include sensible criteria at both the
birth and the death of a star or nebula
With this as a jumping off place let me has proved to be a powerful guide in
point to a few details of the most sorting out the true from the false.
productive tool which a scientist uses More progress has been made in this
in evaluating his models of nature. area since it was reduced to a
One of the most important criteria for boundary value problem than was
a valid theory is that not only must it ever made considering the steady
agree with the data within the limits of state.
observation, but it must predict
sensible results everywhere. Why not apply this method to
theology. Here and now man, as he is
This is known technically as a and as he has been since the dawn of
boundary value problem. In most recorded history, is in a steady state
comprehensive physical problems the and surely the theologists that have
boundaries can be taken to be the tried to explain his goals and purposes
limits of zero and infinity. To illustrate have been many, but have lacked
what I mean let me take a case from anything like universal criteria of
cosmology. credibility. The details of biological
The process going on in the stars, the evolution of man are common
source of their heat, what makes them knowledge, but are our theological
expand and contract and how they are theories valid for man as he first
constituted in detail can be explained emerged at time equals zero — or take
in many ways. Since stars and galaxies prime equal to infinity?
are not subject to man’s
experimentation and manipulation, for The physicists and the biologists
many years cosmology was a highly predict with considerable accuracy
speculative and, in the strict sense of when our solar system will have
the word, unscientific, science. cooled to a point in time when man
will no longer be able to exist and he
In the steady state, and in the here and will vanish from the face of the earth.
now, there appeared to be no Theology must define man’s goals and
acceptable criteria for the credibility of purposes of his existence to cover that
any particular model. As boundary inevitable tragedy as well. Usually,
value problems came to be recognized when we think of the heat death of the
more and more in the scientific world universe, we say to ourselves “But that
15
is so many millions of years away that more knowledge that such a theology
it is unprofitable to spend our time was discarded as inadequate.
worrying about that when we have so Let me now point to another example
many more pressing problems of the which has a parallelism in theology
present to solve first.” and religion. Physics, of the 19th
century, concentrated on measuring
If you are saying that to yourself now, every physical parameter and quantity
you have missed my point. Because with ever increasing precision. In fact,
what I am trying to emphasize is that they concentrated so specifically on
the methodology of science tells us not detailed measurements that the
only that a solution is more likely to be reputation of the profession was
valid by requiring consistency and synonymous with the highest accuracy
validity at the boundaries, but some of in every detail in every particle
the most difficult problems have only measured. Really, not unlike the
been tractable by worrying more rigidity that you discovered by
about the extremes in time than reading Leviticus. A 20th century
concentrating on the present. physicist, in contrast, finds more and
more that the interesting problems of
Let us look at the boundary value nature to be studied are statistically
solutions and we may well make more random processes. The older methods
progress toward a reliable theology for of attention to every individual
the present. Now of course this is not a element is no longer not only
novel idea at all. Many of the older unprofitable but to deal with the
theologies concentrated attention on details of each individual particle
the creation or the last day of might actually prevent the arrival at a
judgment. In their time they were very solution.
successful theological models. It
would be hard to argue against the If you think about statistically
success of a religion based on a fluctuating physical phenomena you
creation of man in God’s image and an again can start thinking that it is all
ultimate retribution of all the trials very well for me to talk about atoms
which beset a good man during his life and electrons, for example, as
as his soul received it’s reward for statistically fluctuating. But when it
goodness on the last day. comes to dealing with human
individuals, the importance of the
This model certainly gave men goals goals and purposes of each person is
to live by, which gave them not only as important as the next and one
courage and fortitude to “suffer the cannot reduce the dignity of man to
slings and arrows of outrageous statistical fluctuation.
fortune” but to make them truly work
for the benefit of mankind. It was only If you are thinking these thoughts,
after the credibility of such a model then I have again failed to make
was shaken by the accumulation of myself clear. Because the real lesson to
16
be learned from the example of
physical methodology of statistical One might be tempted to say that this
fluctuation is that by dealing with the is not basically different from the
problem as a whole, we understand elementary theological student who is
better the nature of the individual… sophisticated enough not to try to
better even than we do by picture God, the soul, or the holy
concentrating on the individual alone. ghost. But there is a great deal of
difference in the technique of
Let me again draw your attention to validating the usefulness of these
the fact that precisely this concept is a concepts between present day
proven methodology in the theology theology and present day physics. The
upon which the reputation of credibility of the theological model
Communism is based. Here is a built on these suggested abstractions
religion that is successfully embraced are really not called into question.
by millions of people for which it
supplies in a satisfying manner the Rather the religious person feels that
goals, aspirations, values, and desires these concepts must be taken on faith.
for service to their fellow men. We They are the underlying bases upon
may firmly believe that the theological which the entire structure is built.
model is wrong, but it should not Now of course the credibility of the
prevent us from recognizing its models in science rests basically on
importance as an obviously applicable faith, the faith of the scientist is that
method in this area of human what is experimentally demonstrable
endeavors. is in fact true. But the scientist does
not take the abstractions on faith; he
The last example I want to take up uses the abstractions as a tool to
here is the use of abstract concept as a develop a model that can be tested. Let
tool for developing and verifying me take a very simple example.
models. We all know that abstract
concepts are very much a part of the It is quite literally impossible for
arsenal of theological contemplation, anyone to picture sixdimensional
but there is a real difference between space. We live in a threedimensional
abstract concepts to develop an universe and even the science fiction
abstract theological construct and the writers have difficulties
scientist’s use of abstract concepts to conceptualizing a 4th dimension. Six
develop experimentally verifiable dimensions is a pure abstraction
models. Even fairly elementary which nobody tries to picture.
students of physics get very used to Nevertheless, the elementary concept
dealing with psi functions, six of pressure, the atmospheric pressure
dimensional spaces, and probability of the air about us right here, is based
density, all of which are literally on the model that the multitudes of
impossible to conceive of in terms of a molecules bombarding you from every
picture of anything. direction in fact causes the pressure
17
which obeys certain rules depending However, as the theological models of
on the temperature, the volume of the today have required modification in
container and so on which when the light of man's greater
calculated in the detail necessary to understanding of nature about him,
pressurize an airplane or pressurize a theologians have tended to retreat
submarine uses a sixdimensional further and further into the realm of
space concept as the vehicle for the abstraction, making it more and more
calculation. The model is thus difficult for the common man to find
constructed using this highly abstract the basic tenets credible and being
concept as a tool for devising required to take more and more on
verifiable theories which may be faith.
tested for their credibility.
I think everybody will agree that
Now to turn to my main point, really spectacular advances have
however, about abstract concepts for crowned the efforts of the scientific
which the human mind may be too disciplines in the last 50 100 years
limited to comprehend in any kind of and many people believe that this
a pictorial form, let me emphasize the advance coincides with a
difference between their place in corresponding shift in scientific
theology and in science — a difference methodology toward using highly
I should point out which I find very abstract tools to validate very real
distressing. physical hypotheses.
The basic elements of primitive I feel strongly that the theologians
religions were very real and working to develop a dynamic
discernible. For Moses, God was so theology which can be validated by a
much of a man that he could talk and modern religious society should study
argue with him. For Tutankhamen, life this methodological advance which
after death was so physical that he has proved so spectacularly successful
provided food and drink for himself in in the scientific world.
his tomb. The Greek gods cohabited
with mortals. It is not enough to develop highly
abstract ideas of God, the soul, and
These highly successful theological immortality. We should stop worrying
models which violated none of the about what these concepts mean in the
knowledge of the day were not based physical world but use them to
on indescribable abstractions. The develop a modern theology which can
generations of men who set their goals be validated in the modern world and
and validated their lives by living by in the modern idiom and in complete
these models carried very clear and agreement with modern knowledge.
credible pictures in their minds of
God, Isis, and Zeus. Let me conclude by pointing out that
I’ve taken only three possible
18
examples from the methodology of
science, which could have their
counterpart in a new theology. I
believe it is vitally important that
theology come face to face with
modern knowledge.
Scientific advances have put an
incredible strain on modern society
and as man searches for those ideals
and aspirations which are of ultimate
concern to himself, his knowledge of
the real world must be attuned to his
theology and his religious belief, if
these latter are to be the dynamic
forces in his living—that I feel they
must be.
19
III Cosmic Evolution and the Physical Sciences
W
Entropy happens to be defined in such
a way that an increase in entropy
corresponds to a decrease in the order
hat do I mean by a physical science? in the universe. The calculation of
entropy is at times complicated but the
The easy way would be just to
enumerate the various physical concept, I think, is very simple. Let me
illustrate by two examples.
sciences that would come to mind
when one thought of the term
If you examine a cigarette in detail, the
astronomy, physics, chemistry,
mathematics, etc. But this does not probability is high that within the
paper wrapper you will find tobacco.
really serve my purpose because of the
popular misconception of these However, as you smoke it, what used
to be tobacco becomes smoke and
sciences which has so confused science
with technology, pure science with ashes. The smoke becomes randomly
distributed in the air and the ashes,
applied engineering, and intellectual
exercise with practical utility, that you more or less, randomly distributed
about the smoker. The probability of
may miss my entire point if I do not
make a much more careful definition your finding a particle of your smoke
between your fingers after you have
than just that enumeration.
smoked it is vanishingly small
compared with your former chances of
Crudely one could say that the
physical sciences are the fundamental finding the tobacco in your cigarette
before you smoked it. The entropy, in
studies of dead matter, man’s attempt
to understand the nature of the other words, the disorder of the
system, has increased and your
inanimate world about him,
particularly in contrast to the cigarette has become more random.
biological sciences which are the study
of living matter. However, I can be A second, and perhaps macabre,
example may make the concept of
much more precise in this if you will
allow me to introduce you to the entropy even clearer. Compare the
condition of your body now with what
physical concept of entropy.
it will be 100 years from now. Your
body is now in a highly organized
Entropy, which I define as a
quantitative measure of the disorder state, an expert in anatomy knows just
where to look to find your various
of a system, is really a measure of the
order in the universe. One of the organs, veins, nerves, muscles, etc.
because you are a very orderly array
fundamental laws of physics tells us
that the universe around us is of cells.
becoming more and more disordered,
more and more statistically random.
20
One hundred years from now you will biological development, entropy is
have returned “dust to dust and ashes decreasing, order is being produced.
to ashes” and your entropy will be
greatly increased. Your organization Actually, the energy necessary for life
will have disintegrated completely and biological development comes
and the chance of finding any order in from the sun whose entropy is
your structure will be negligible increasing with time. One can think of
compared to what it is today. living organisms as feeding on the
physical world, decreasing their
In every physical process that we entropy at the expense of the
know of, entropy is always increasing, increasing entropy of the rest of the
the universe becomes more solar system so that the net entropy of
disordered, and incidentally the the whole system still increases, but
ultimate death of the universe comes the biological development is different
that much closer. Thus by the physical from the physical development in this
sciences I mean those sciences which regard.
deal with processes in which the
entropy is always increasing. The consistency of the Second Law of
Thermodynamics is maintained by the
There is a fundamental law of physics total increase of the entropy of the
which goes by the complicated title of universe, but life by itself is an isolated
the Second Law of Thermodynamics, example of a decreasing entropy
which says that in every physical system.
model that we have so far been able to
construct in agreement with our Thus, within the framework of this
observation, the entropy of every earth itself, the physical sciences deal
closed system is always increasing. In with increasing entropy systems and
other words, the physical world is the life sciences deal with decreasing
getting more and more disordered. entropy systems. If the universe as we
know it is running down, heading
Now as a way of clarifying this inextricably to a fate of complete
concept, let me compare the physical disorder, how did it ever get started?
sciences with the biological sciences.
The life process makes order out of Cosmologists are making progress in
disorder, randomly distributed cells applying our known physical laws to
are formed into orderly arrays, more provide us with a picture of the
complicated structures are made out phenomena which control the birth
of simpler ones, and man grows from and the death of the universe. But our
a sperm and an ovum in apparent model is far from complete at the
violation of the great principle of present time.
physics, the Second Law of
Thermodynamics. Since, in this Let me give you a brief discussion on
the evolution of our galaxy; in other
21
words, in terms of the words I’ve been can see a visible star. The first stage in
using before, the model of the creation the production of matter is merely to
of our universe. bring these hydrogen atoms together
close enough so that their fields of
You will discover that I can start this force can interact and light is
discussion at any point and I would produced.
like to start it considering space as an
enormous cloud of hydrogen atoms, But this is not the end of this attraction
hydrogen atoms moving around in a between the hydrogen atoms. As they
random fashion and occasionally are pulled together they can get close
colliding with other hydrogen atoms. enough so that nuclear processes are
introduced and the heavy hydrogen
One of the basic laws of physics is the atoms are fused together into helium
law of gravity, which says that any atoms in precisely the same
material substance will attract any phenomenon as occurs in the
other material substance according to production of a hydrogen sun.
a very known and tested law. If we
consider space to be bathed in a sea of This produces enormous amounts of
hydrogen atoms, these hydrogen energy—so much so that further
atoms will gradually pull themselves gravitational collapse of the stars is
together under the force of gravity. As inhibited. Let me remind you that one
they fall together, they gradually of the most productive experiments
acquire speed and when they get into which physicists have been able to do
dense regions of other hydrogen (despite one’s fear of hydrogen bombs
atoms they collide and transmit their as military weapons) was to be able to
energy to other ones with which they predict exactly the phenomenon that I
collide. This process is one in which have been discussing as the origin of
the gravitational energy is gradually stars, to such an extent that they could
changed into random heat energy and produce a hydrogen bomb and have it
the gas as it collects in clusters due to go off the first time they tried it
the gravitational attraction becomes because the model which they had
denser and hotter. produced was accurate enough to
predict not only what elements
There are three recognizable stages in needed to be in the reaction but all the
the production of a star. As the details of this really catastrophic event.
hydrogen atoms are brought together
by the gravitational force, eventually In the last 50 years we have developed
they will get close enough together so sufficiently accurate models to go
that the electron patterns around the from no nuclear reactions at all to a
hydrogen atoms will begin to interact. hydrogen bomb. In the stars this
process takes several billions of years,
When they interact, the energy is the reason being that the statistical
released in the form of light and we chance of these things occurring is
22
very small and therefore one has to process of burning, it makes carbon,
wait through a very long time before and with the helium and the carbon
the chance encounter of the proper mixed together, nuclearly speaking,
elements are all available for such a oxygen is formed.
reaction.
Five or six or more helium nuclei will
In the process of fusion, the hydrogen burn together and make neon,
nuclei turn into helium. Eventually the magnesium, silicon, sulfur, and as the
hydrogen is all exhausted. When this process goes on, the red giant stage of
occurs, the gravitational forces the stellar evolution will make all the
between the nuclei take over again elements which we know at present in
and the star continues to collapse. the periodic table. The process
Because of the fact that these reactions continues until the helium is used up
are taking place at the center of the and the star collapses again because of
star and it is surrounded on the the gravitational force. This collapses
outside by cooler hydrogen gas, the into what is known as a white dwarf
star, as we observe it in the heavens at star—a violent rearrangement of the
the moment in this stage, is red. matter in the star results in a
Astronomers call this the red giant tremendous catastrophic explosion
stage of a star. into what is called a supernova.
When the hydrogen is exhausted and Several supernova have been observed
the gravitational force starts to pull the in the history of man, and the fact that
star together again, the temperature of we have seen several of them is quite a
the star rises remarkably to around remarkable thing. In the supernova,
100 billion degrees. At this because of the explosion that takes
temperature the helium, which was place, essentially everything collides
formed by the hydrogen, starts with everything else with tremendous
burning. I should point out that we are energy and the rest of the heavy
unable to make a helium bomb since elements as we know them are
the energy necessary is very much formed.
larger than a hydrogen bomb and we
cannot get several hundred billions of The stellar material so formed is
degrees by any method that we know. hurled into interstellar space, and a
"second generation” star starts to be
The way we get the temperature for a formed in the same process as the first
hydrogen bomb is to explode an atom star except the second generation star
bomb inside it which is hot enough to is now contaminated with the debris
set the reaction off, but a hydrogen of the exploded supernova. Our solar
bomb is not hot enough to set off a system including our sun is such a
helium bomb, though the stars second generation star contaminated
succeed at this very successfully. The with all the elements that were
helium starts burning and, in the
23
produced in this catastrophic and the entropy will keep on
explosion. increasing.
Now let me go from galaxy formation Disorder will continue to be the basic
to something much closer to home — concept of the solar system. To put it
namely, our own sun. The sun, as it another way, this means that the hot
was produced, started coalescing in part of the solar system will cool off,
the gravitational field with the debris and eventually it will all come to a
of an exploded white dwarf. As the uniform temperature and it will have
main cloud condensed, small bits of arrived at a condition of maximum
the cloud were left behind in a entropy.
statistically fluctuating hydrogen gas.
These processes are longterm
Some particles would come together processes, they are so long term that
and little clusters would be formed. when I give you the numbers it means
These smaller clusters did not involve nothing to you whatever. This
so much matter as the sun, hence unfortunately is a limitation of the
when they were compressed they human mind which we can do nothing
were not compressed so much, about. I will give you the numbers
because the matter was a smaller anyway.
amount, and hence they never got as
hot. These formed the planets as we The life history of the first hydrogen
know them which were cooled quite cloud was about 20 thousand million
rapidly compared with the sun, years. The explosion part is 10 billion
condensed into solid rock, and became years and the second generation star
the planets as we now know them. which includes our sun in our own
galaxy has an age of about 4.5 billion
Let me now return to my definition of years.
entropy. You will notice that when I
started, I started building up The question that really should be in
universes, galaxies, out of statistically your mind is what has this to do with
fluctuating hydrogen gas. From our a theological model which I am
limited knowledge of science, we do discussing in this seminar. What I
not know how big a system is required have been presenting is the image of a
for the Second Law of unitary system which ordains all that
Thermodynamics to be valid. But we was, is, and is to be...the first part of
do know that once we have isolated my definition of God.
the sun, as a system, disconnected
from the rest of the galaxy as far as its Certainly forces which are capable of
nuclear burning is concerned, the both building up and destroying
Second Law of Thermodynamics is universes, fall within the meaning of
definitely in operation; we have
formed an isolated system in space
24
the next word which I have in the “omnipresent''… (everywhere present)
definition: omnipotent. …in my definition of God.
But fully as important as our ability to Included in this universality of the
develop a credible model of all that laws of nature is the almost certain
was, is, and is to be in the physical existence of life in other parts of the
universe is the homogeneity of universe. The statistical probability of
absolutely every detail. Perhaps not so finding other forms of life by chance
remarkable is the fact that the laws of encounter may be terribly small, but
gravity work just as specifically to you will have discovered by reading
hold you into your seat as they do to Shapley’s book that it is reliably
hold the solar system together, to hold estimated that there are about 100
the galaxy together; and in fact to million other galaxies.* By galaxy, I
draw the hydrogen nuclei together mean an island universe (one of the
which form the galaxies in their words that Shapley uses).
original shape.
We are in a spiral nebula and we are
As I say, perhaps this is not so one little speck off on one side. There
amazing, but what does seem fantastic are about 100 million other galaxies.*
to a physicist and to an astrophysicist Within our own galaxy there are about
is that as far as we can observe all the one million planetary systems which
elements which we know on the are capable of supporting life as we
surface of the earth, which we know it.
manipulate in our laboratories, are
found in the furthest reaches of the Since we cannot postulate life in any
universes—not only are the elements other form than we know it, there may
the same, but the isotopic abundances, be others but there are at least
the relative weight of the same _________________________________
elements with slightly different *Today, with better data from
nuclear arrangements are precisely the improved telescopes, particularly
same whether we observe the light those orbiting in outer space,
coming from the most distant star or astronomers now believe the number
create the light in an electric arc in our of galaxies exceeds 1 billion.
own laboratory. There is, in fact, no
indication that what we observe as the
structure of matter in the farthest
reaches of space are different in any
detail than those that we see in our
laboratories or find on the surface of
the earth.
It is this extraordinary universality
which leads me to use the word
25
one million planets which are capable scientific community as a whole has
of supporting life as we know it. agreed that this is a valid theory.
Although the chance of finding a The theory is Einstein's general theory
manlike animal living in other celestial of relativity. When Einstein applied
bodies may be extremely small, the this highly mathematical general
number of habitable worlds in the theory of relativity to a model of the
known cosmic space may well be of universe he found that to be consistent
the billions. In the face of numbers like with this theory it was necessary to
these, the theory of probability tells us postulate not only that space was
that we are almost certainly far from curved but space also was bounded.
unique. The universe, a collection of dust,
rock, stars, galaxies, and hydrogen
I think some of the most interesting nuclei was spread out uniformly in a
experiments that are being done by spherical volume, spherically
physicists these days are attempts to symmetric and closed. It actually
discover other intelligent messages in turned out that his spherical
the light or the radio waves which assumption was not necessary. It
come to us from other galaxies. These made the mathematics easier, but as
experiments have not been successful the mathematicians have become more
so far but this is, I am sure, a result of sophisticated they have tried less
our own inability to think about how symmetric solutions — the answer is
to do the right experiment. the same, although the mathematics is
much more difficult.
What I have been talking about so far
has been a boundary value problem When Einstein and his coworker at
applied to the boundary at time equal the time, Friedmann, first calculated
zero —I have been talking about the the details of this universe, they firmly
origin of the universe up until now. believed (and the astronomical data at
What about the future? the time seemed to show) that the
universe was in static equilibrium; that
Here, I want to turn to one of the is, that the radius had a given value
concepts that I talked about last time, and that it was staying still, however,
that is the use of highly abstract their solutions as they set them up,
concepts which lead to very real predicted a dynamic universe. It said
predictions and which have seen that the universe was either
tested by very rigid criteria of contracting or expanding; it certainly
credibility and found to be correct in was not staying still. So sure was
every way. I do not expect you to Einstein and Friedmann that they had
understand the theory and I will not made some kind of a mistake in their
even present it to you, but the calculations, that they added what was
called for many years a “cosmological
term” in their mathematics, the only
26
purpose of which was to fix up the great discovery of Hubble would have
theory to agree with the accepted turned out to be another proof of his
astronomical evidence of a static theory. But as it was, he dropped this
universe. cosmological term and was
embarrassed the rest or his life that he
Now you all are familiar with the had not believed his own theory.
Doppler effect. If an automobile goes There is no doubt that, if one is to use
by you honking its horn, the pitch of the accepted model of the theory of
the horn seems to be going down relativity, the universe is expanding.
when it passes, particularly noticeable Calculations based on the rate or
nowadays when an airplane goes over expansion now, which incidentally is
your head, the sound of the airplane not constant but slowing down from
always lowers in pitch after it starts its original rate, extrapolated back to
going away from you. This Doppler time equal zero (in other words, when
effect allows you to calculate and to the universe began) give an age of 1010
measure the speed with which things years, thus is in agreement with other
are receding or traveling toward you. measurements of the age of the
If you don’t believe it, don’t get caught universe.
by a radar used by the police, that is
precisely how they tell how fast you What the general theory of relativity
are going. tells us, furthermore, is that the
universe is an oscillating sphere which
The astronomer Hubble, after Einstein expands and contracts with a
and Friedmann had worked out their frequency so slow as to be
theory, showed that there was incomprehensible to our imagination
irrefutable spectroscopic evidence that but nevertheless goes through this
the light coming from distant stars dynamic oscillation.
was shifted toward the red — which
meant that the universe was This sphere is bounded and, as far as
expanding, the edges of the universe our knowledge extends, there is
were going away from us. nothing outside it. This we cannot
conceive of. Our whole concept of
Einstein dropped his cosmological space must, in our human mind, have
term, returning to the equations of something outside a spherical
relativity in their original form which universe, but I suspect that this is our
had been tested by three famous fault, not the universe’s.
experiments which astronomers had
carried out (the most spectacular of Nevertheless, we also know that this
which was to measure the bending of expanding stage, which we are now
light as it went by the sun). in, has already begun to slow down.
Eventually, the gravitational forces
If Einstein had had enough courage to which are always acting to pull
be sure of his original prediction, the together matter will overcome the
27
present expansive phase and the
universe will start contracting. The The curvature of space predicts with
density of matter will gradually rise to absolute certainty the annihilation of
fantastic values, the temperature will all living organisms of all possible life.
go up, and up, and up, approaching It rules out therefore, in my opinion,
the immense heat necessary to form any image of God which is a
new universes, and the process will projection of human emotions; i.e.,
start all over again. love, value, hope, or even life itself.
What does this say about the
possibility of life in twenty thousand These will all disappear when the
millennia from now? It will be environment of the universe will be
absolutely and literally impossible. sufficiently hostile in its contracting
You often read that the sun is running phase and therefore any image
down, the Second Law of involving any human projection is not
Thermodynamics tells us that the eternal. The laws of nature, however,
entropy is increasing, eventually the are eternal, and they are also infinite, if
sun will burn its hydrogen out and it by infinite you mean the furthest you
will cool down. can ever go in space or time. The laws
of nature are eternal even when all life
Even if by then (and still we have has been destroyed.
some billions of years to work on the
problem) we are able to escape the Now perhaps one of the most
solar system and find some more misunderstood facets of the God I
congenial medium in which to live, have been defining is the apparent
the basic expansion and contraction of lack of the adjective “personal.” As a
the universe predicted by the theory of characteristic of that definition, the
relativity will eventually make all life, primitive human brain almost
everywhere in the universe, absolutely automatically projects its selfimage or
impossible. animistic characteristic on all it
perceives. Early men and their
You can quite properly ask the religions, as well as the belief of
question: "Am I bringing this up just children, have this very definite
as an illustration of a boundary value characteristic.
problem, or as a model which has
been successfully tested by our best Even highly sophisticated theologians
criteria of credibility?” Now although and physicists may be thrown back
both of these things are true, it is not onto this inherent characteristic of the
for this reason at all, but rather for its central nervous system, when a
deep, theological implications. Let me response is elicited largely from the
point out that this theoretical lower brain as happens under duress
prediction of general relativity has a and stress or even if you stub your toe.
direct consequence on our definition If you listen to what people say, it is a
of God. I have defined God as eternal. very personal affront which they take
28
from the stone—they may even kick it But imagine that you were with me
again which does little good to them when I was young, standing on a
and certainly no harm to the stone. moonlight night on the top of a
mountain which you never heard of,
Yet, my personal response as a man to called EinenSur. The Lebanon
these almost incredible laws of nature mountains 50 miles to the west acted
are as truly a satisfying religious as an impenetrable barrier for the
experience as I can imagine. The clouds from the Mediterranean. The
scientific cosmos is more like the God nearest electric light is in Damascus,
of the inescapable law in the Old 80 miles to the southeast and shielded
Testament. It is a single integrated from us by the foothills of Mt.
system of reality and the law of its Hermon. In the early 1920’s
operation creates and sustains all that automobiles did not travel at night on
is from everlasting to everlasting. the dusty unpaved roads far to the
south, for a breakdown would surely
It is more like the deity portrayed in mean an unpleasant encounter with
religions where man must serve and roving bandits.
obey, rather than like the ones which
include JudeoChristian religion Stand with me on this isolated peak
where the deity is as man can imagine and look up. The stars are oppressive
him, and perhaps even manage him in their brilliance, the Milky Way is
and persuade him. not a dim band which in Lexington,
Massachusetts, you sometimes
The only God that contemporary confuse with weak northern lights, but
science allows is an immutable system a brilliant band of myriad dancing
of reality, so superhuman in character stars. Mars is like a great red beacon
that no human pressure of any kind and the Andromeda nebula a
can avail to change it. All that man can mysterious, illdefined, shiny cloud
do is to seek the law of this deity and which cannot help but draw your
adapt and conform, or else cease to be. thoughts out beyond the confines of
the world. Our solar system is an
Yet, I often wish I were some kind of a insignificant dot in the nebula we call
poet, to be able to show you what a our universe. All the stars we see from
scientist feels about his science. The this mountain of ours are in our
scientist, by the nature of his universe, except the Andromeda
profession, revels in the closeness of nebula.
the stupendous vastness of the
unknown which most of us one way The Milky Way, whose stars are so
or another define as God. Perhaps few numerous that we cannot resolve them
of you in this room have been able to into separate points of light, are the
really experience the incredible arms of the great spiral nebula in
vastness of the heavens. which we exist. Nor is our universe
unique, for although the nebula in
29
Andromeda is the only other one we simplicity, order, and real beauty of
can see with our naked eye, there are nature which at times becomes almost
millions of others. Together these overwhelming. My science and
nebula form a supergalaxy which we religion become one, and my
can describe as bounded, though the reverence for nature is my reverence
human mind cannot appreciate this, for God—reverence for my own
and there is nothing outside. In these personal god, because I am a person,
vast reaches of space, all physical laws because I am a man thinking these
are identical as we know them. Every thoughts.
element in the cosmic dust deviates
not a bit from the elements that we
know. The law of gravitation attracts
universes as surely as it attracts us.
Our cosmic view of the supergalaxy
lets us realize that there are about 100
million other galaxies, other universes
beside our own, and that within our
own universe there are about one
million planetary systems capable of
supporting life as we know it.
Now if we come back from our view
of the supergalaxy, back to the spiral
nebula of our universe, back to the
solar system whose very center of
existence is the sun, actually
indetectably small on a cosmic scale,
and finally back to our lonely
mountain top, we find ourselves so
insignificantly minute in the cosmic
scale that we really cannot describe
our smallness.
These are the thoughts which make
many scientists deeply religious. For
my own self, as I spend hours, days,
and years, in my laboratory, piecing
together the intricacies of one small
piece of research, adding one small bit
of knowledge to the great discipline
we call science—when the answers do
come, they show a fundamental
30
IV Evolution and the Biological Sciences
L
about in the reading which I assigned
for this seminar.
ast week we talked about evolution What I am saying is that the difference
between the physical universe and the
and the physical sciences, which I
characterized as entropy increasing biological universe is that the physical
universe is always becoming more
systems. You will remember that I
defined entropy as the quantitative disordered. The biological systems are
becoming more ordered, but that is
measure of disorder of a system, and
the physical universe as one in which not a sufficient condition. It also has
the characteristic of being self
the entropy is always increasing. That
means the disorder in the universe is replicating, that means it can
reproduce itself. It is this concept
always increasing.
which I want to dwell on for a little
while, because I want to be sure that
Tonight I want to talk about evolution
and the biological sciences, which I you understand what I mean. There
are actually two ways of producing
will characterize roughly as entropy
decreasing systems, that is, systems in orderliness. One is called a statistical
mechanism which produces order
which the disorder of the system is
becoming less, becoming more fromdisorder. The second method is
called the selfreplicating mechanism
ordered rather than more disordered.
The characterization of life as an which produces orderfromorder. Let
me explain what I mean in more
entropy decreasing system is a
necessary but not sufficient condition. detail.
It is true that living organisms avoid
decay by eating, drinking, or in the There is a perfectly standard method
in the physical world of producing
case of plants, assimilating— what one
might call negative entropy. That is, order from disorder statistically, when
things crystallize, for example. If you
they are continually drawing from
their environment what is often take water and you cool it down close
to the freezing point, before it freezes
characterized as negentropy. the
opposite of entropy. An organism's the atoms of the water (the hydrogen
and oxygen atoms) start collecting
astonishing gift of concentrating a
stream of order into itself and thus statistically in places where they will
freeze into the crystal when the
escaping the decay into atomic chaos
(you might almost consider it as temperature becomes sufficiently low.
That is a random process, but you can
drinking orderliness from its
environment) is intimately connected study it by xray analysis and discover
that on the average the hydrogen
with a selfreplicating mechanism, the
details of which I hope you learned atoms get into one position and the
31
oxygen atoms get into the other — so organization and chemical structure of
that before it freezes, the atoms are the DNA molecules constitute the
statistically situated in the condition of blueprint of biological heredity. It
a crystal even though they are in directs the orderfromorder
liquid. Any one atom is moving characteristic of the particular
around at random but on the average entropydecreasing system that we call
they tend to collect along the life. As cells divide to form the
crystallographic axis which will be embryo, the DNA molecules located in
true of the frozen crystal when the the chromosomes of the cell nucleus of
temperature gets sufficiently low. This the fertilized egg also divides and are
is what I mean when I talk about distributed ultimately to each of the
orderfromdisorder. It is a statistical thousands of trillions of cells that form
mechanism. the body.
The biological case is quite different. These DNA molecular structures are
The biological case is one in which the templates or patterns. Through several
order of the final system is dictated by chemical steps, they are responsible
order of a controlling mechanism, for the production of the thousands of
which I would like to discuss in some different highly specific proteins of
detail. Each of us is what we are today which our tissues are composed. These
because of information passed on to us include the hundreds of enzymes that
from preceding generations. The regulate each cell’s metabolism, its
difference between a fly, a cat, a dog, growth and life processes. Every
and a man, and many individual single one of our human
differences between individuals are characteristics is coded into the DNA
the result of information passed from molecule and is coded before we start
parent to offspring by a chemical code to develop as individuals.
of instructions in the nucleus of
parental and sperm cells. This code The information contained in the
constitutes the genes and, depending chromosomes of a single human egg
upon the species, instructs the has been estimated (and I want just to
developing tissues how to make a fly, give you some kind of a picture of
a cat, a dog or a person as the case this) as being equivalent to 1,000
may be. One of the greatest printed volumes of books, each as
developments of the past decade has large as the Encyclopedia Britannica.
been the discovery of the chemical So much coded instruction, packed
nature of the genes and the nature of into a space the millionth size of a pin
their codes. head, is required for transmission
from parent to offspring to tell the
The code is contained in the pattern of next generation how to make a person.
selfreplicating molecules of a We share this same type of coded
particular kind of ribonucleic acid information with all forms of plants
which is called DNA for short. The and animals.
32
blurred in recent decades, with the
Mutations (which is a word I hope you discovery that viruses are nuclear
came across in your reading for this protein molecules some of which, like
week) are chance accidental changes in the tobacco virus, can be made to cross
the alphabet of the code. In the picture the boundary between the statistical
of my volume of books, they are sort and the selfreplicating mechanism
of typographical errors that are then almost at will.
passed on from parent to offspring
and are inherited. Ninetynine percent There is a long series of experiments
of all mutations are either lethal or carried out with the tobacco virus
deleterious to succeeding generations. which I would like to talk about for
Less than one percent may confer an just a few minutes. It can take two
advantage to its possessor at a given forms. It can be crystallized as a
time and in a specific environment. It simple chemical crystal, or, by taking
is such occasional rare beneficial the crystal and putting it into a
mutations upon which progress in nutrient solution and keeping the
biological evolution depends. temperature just right, it can be made
to turn into a virus. You can do it back
Biological evolution by natural and forth. When it is a virus, it is self
selection is thus a very slow and replicating. It grows. It produces
wasteful way of transmitting progress. offspring, and it is susceptible to
Again, I hope you read the first temperature variations which will kill
chapter of Hawaii and got the feeling it if you heat it up too much and kill it
of the tremendous scope of time and if you cool it down too much.
waste of attempts which go into the
evolutionary process . It has taken However, if you take this same virus,
over two billion years to produce, take away its nutrients, you can
from simple viruslike structures, crystallize it into an ordinary crystal
complex species including ourselves, which you can then heat to
that now inherit the earth. For these tremendous temperatures, you can
species here today, millions have cool to as cold as you can get it, and
perished in the course of nothing happens to it whatsoever. It is
environmental screening by natural not selfreplicating, it can crystallize,
selection. you can dissolve it, and recrystallize it
and it behaves like an ordinary salt
Let me return for a minute to the crystal.
boundary between orderfrom
disorder, which is like a crystal But still, after you have treated it as a
freezing out, and orderfromorder, a crystal, you can then put it back into
human being produced by its growth its living form and it behaves like a
from the DNA coded molecule. The virus. Perhaps it is not at all surprising
line between living and nonliving that these boundary cases should be
systems has become increasingly found. We are discussing a sort of
33
continuous development of the formed a complete atom, that it is
evolution of life, and eventually of possible for atoms to combine with
man, out of the primitive stuff of the others to form molecules. With
universe, and it would be surprising if elementary particles, one is in the
we did not find some intermediate realm of what physicists call the
forms. Heisenberg uncertainty principle,
which states that with such small
Living organisms are composed structures one cannot simultaneously
almost entirely of four elements: specify both their location and their
carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and motion.
hydrogen. Thus life, as we know it, is
possible only in the planets attached to This means to a physicist that
the kind of second generation star that elementary particles have no definite
we discussed last week. We saw last size or shape, and one does not know
week that the necessary elements where they are except statistically. On
(carbon, oxygen, nitrogen — those the other hand, with molecules one
three) were developed during the enters the determinant world with
decline of an earlier stellar generation matter acquiring definite size and
— only hydrogen being available in a shape and positions.
first generation star. Thus we know
that life, as we know it, is restricted to During the first billion years on this
these second generation stars. planet, the molecules accumulated,
interacted with one another, and
I might point out that, in theory, there eventually aggregated to give rise to
is nothing wrong with postulating life the first living organisms. All complex
as we do not know it. In other words, plants and animals have descended
postulating life which is not made of from much simpler forms. Students of
these elements, does not require the the origin of life have amassed
kind of metabolic transformation that convincing evidence that life on Earth
we find on Earth. But there is a serious began some two or three thousand
question with our present state of million years ago from the chance
knowledge that we would recognize formation of large organic molecules
life as we do not know it since the only — some of which, like those of
definitions of life as we have them ribonucleic acid, were selfreplicating.
now are in terms of the kind of life we If such an unlikely event as the
find on the surface of the earth, the spontaneous generation of such
kind of life that is restricted to the molecules occurred even once,
second generation stars. evolution by natural selection could
send life down through the ages.
It is only in cooler places in the
universe that atomic nuclei can hold Because of the tremendous variety in
electrons so that they can form chance statistical encounters, and the
complete atoms. It is only after one has incomprehendingly long time scale
34
through which such statistical
encounters can occur, even Now the further synthesis of the
exceedingly improbable events of the building blocks into the
“oncetooccur” variety may become a macromolecule, especially nucleic
virtual certainty given enough time to acids and proteins essential for life,
wait. had not yet been accomplished under
realistically primitive conditions
Now there is a wide difference of although they had been accomplished
opinion as to what particular course in under special conditions. Nevertheless
the development of life actually it is reasonable to assume that these
happens. But here again there is near steps too could occur, and that in the
unanimity on the essential points. near future (actually in the laboratory)
Virtually all biochemists agree that life we can make these as well as the basic
on Earth arose spontaneously from aminoacids which have so far been
nonliving matter and that it would synthesized.
almost inevitably arise on sufficiently
similar young planets anywhere in the There is nothing unnatural or
universe. This confidence which the supernatural about this formation of
biochemists have is based on their life. Its generation clearly falls within
chemical experience. the field of biochemistry as we know it
today. Once having started, then we
If atoms of hydrogen and oxygen know that it is an intrinsic property of
come together under certain simple living organisms to have the capacity
and common conditions of energy for passing on their particular forms
they always combine to form water. and, in fact, having them change by
Formation of more complex molecules mutations in a direction which is
require correspondingly more called “optimization” of the organism.
complex circumstances, but it still The mechanism of this process is
seems to be comparatively simple in called natural selection. It involves the
its chemistry. In fact, this has been interplay of three factors — a
demonstrated in laboratories many mechanism of inheritance, a
times. continuous production of random
inherited variations (which are the
If energies, such as would be available mutations), and the struggle for
on a young planet, are put into a existence which is the competitive
mixture of the simplest possible element. The outcome is called, as
compounds of hydrogen, oxygen, Darwin called it, the survival of the
carbon and nitrogen, such as also fittest — a continuous elimination of
could well occur on a young planet, whatever functions are not well
aminoacids and other building blocks adapted, permitting those that work
of essential complex organic molecular the best to go on.
are formed and have been formed in
the laboratory.
35
Without going into the details of the false. Death is a relatively late
creation of man from a virus, I think invention even in the process of
we are quite sure that man was evolution. Right up to the portals of
produced as a natural outcome of the vertebrate life there is no need for
operation of these natural processes. death. There are many organisms,
For this reason, I have included in my which include such organisms as sea
definition of God a new phrase anemone, planaria, and many of the
“creator and sustainer of life.'' single cell animals, which never need
to die.
Actually, I am inclined to supplement
my original definition that I gave at They can separate, they can form new
the beginning by adding the words offspring, and their living material
“and death” so it will read “creator continues on forever. Death comes
and sustainer of life and death” — into the picture in association with
because I think one of the real sexual reproduction, and in this
differences between my theological mechanism as it has developed
model and, for example, the Christian through the evolutionary process,
model, is that in this model I am death for bisexual forms of life is
presenting to you, death is a good necessary. But it is not the antithesis of
thing. life. And there are many living things
which never need to die.
I am going to talk about this in my last
two seminars in considerable detail, Before I go on, let me define death.
but I want to set the stage for this by Death is the point where the entropy
pointing out that in normal theological of a living cell system starts to increase
models we talk about the “valley in faster than it ever decreases.
the shadow of death.” We talk about Let me explain what I mean.
death as if it were an evil thing. The If you start with human development,
model based on natural selection will one finds that under the orderfrom
tell us quite the opposite. Death is an order building of a human being from
essential part of the process of natural the original sperm and egg, the
selection. Evolution could not occur organism grows by feeding on the
without it, and we are created as entropy of the universe and becomes a
humans because death occurs as part more and more ordered array of cells.
of our development. Thus death, as an The number of cells which are in an
evolutionary necessity, is one of the orderform in the human body when it
important positive steps which this is born is much greater than when it
theological model will postulate. started from its DNA coding in the
beginning. This continues in mankind
Now let me change what I find is a as he uses food as a way of decreasing
misconception about life and death. his entropy.
One often hears that death is
inevitable to all living things. This is
36
Actually the organism can be said to There are many animals that arrange
be feeding on negative entropy and its for death as part of the sexual act. The
entropy continues to decrease. praying mantis is a much studied case.
Eventually what happens, and this The male praying mantis can copulate
happens about between the ages of 25 after the female has eaten the upper
and 35, the organism no longer part of his body away — his head and
decreases its entropy but gradually everything but the necessary organs.
increases its entropy, being more The salmon, in the process of getting
disordered every day. ready for mating, has lost its ability to
eat. As it goes up stream to mate it
When you eat you decrease your loses its alimentary canal; it no longer
entropy. Between the times that you has a stomach; it no longer can
are eating and assimilating your food, decrease its entropy by eating and
your entropy is increasing Eventually lasts only long enough to reproduce.
the organism gets to a point where So, in this respect, it is already dead. I
even feeding on negative entropy of only bring this up as an illustration of
the universe can no longer sustain its the fact that there are many different
increasing entropy and death is the definitions of death and to emphasize
result. Death is a dissolution of the that biological evolution is a necessary
orderly structure of the body, and can but not sufficient condition for the
be calculated on the basis of a development of the nature of man, as
discontinuous increase in the entropy we will see next week.
content.
Having defined death, this brings up
The definition of death that I have the problem of immortality. It is clear,
given you is a technical one for my I think, from the discussion which I
particular model. What I am saying is have already given to you, that the
that death is the point where your models which I am presenting include
body increases its entropy at a rate immortality as one of its main tenets.
faster than it is decreasing... in a We have in ourselves, and we pass on
remarkable way. It is a discontinuous to our offspring, the coded
increase in your entropy. Your information which makes a human,
disorder is so great that it is an makes us as individuals with all our
obvious change to everyone around drives, images, personalities, and
you. Now actually you can define everything else. Not only that, we
death another way if you like. You have inherited this in an unbroken line
can, for example, define death as far as from the time life first started.
biological evolution is concerned as
the point when you are no longer able Perhaps one of the most remarkable
to produce offspring; you are no things about human immortality in
longer able to pass your DNA terms of its germ plasm is the fact that
molecules on. the germ plasm is a very sensitive
group of cells of macromolecules,
37
which must be kept at a constant
temperature. If you think about it, we
have kept our germ plasms at a
constant temperature ever since man
first evolved and had a temperature of
98.8˚, and this has been going on
through every generation since the
origin of mankind.
We all realize that we are made up of
two parts. We have this immortal part,
which is our DNA molecules, the
germ plasms, and we have a very
mortal part which dies off very
quickly in terms of evolutionary time
— and this is called the soma. The
soma, as defined in the Oxford
Collegiate Dictionary, is all of any
organism except the germ cells (the
egg and the sperm cells), except the
part that contains his immortality.
Our genes never die, they are
immortal. They will keep going unless
all of us are annihilated, and thus we
are immortal. Now the genes are not
the only part of man that is immortal.
There is another type of evolution
which I will talk about next time, and I
will get back to this concept of the
immortality in subsequent
discussions, but surely the genes form
a part of what I will eventually define
as man's immortal soul.
38
V Social and Religious Evolution
T
communism, and other forms of
chauvinistic nationalism in our time.
Just as many mutant genes may be
here is an interesting analogy between lethal for a species, so idenes, such as
those that might produce a nuclear
the biological evolution by genes, and
the social evolution by ideas. This has war, could be lethal to the human race.
been pointed out by many people.
New ideas are analogous to new One of the big differences between
biological and social evolution is in the
mutations of the genes. Henry Murray
has coined a term “idene” for social operating time scale. In the case of
social evolution, the impact of the
evolution parallel to genes in
biological evolution. idenes is measured in years, or at most
centuries, while in biological evolution
The definition of an idene is: the the time scale for viable mutant genes
to establish new forms is more nearly
element which structures man’s
cultural heritage analogous to the measurable in millions of years. Social
evolution is a very recent
genes which structure biological
heritage. To dwell on the parallelism phenomenon compared to time scales
characteristic of biological evolution,
for a minute, most genetic mutations
are lethal and harmful and worthless starting roughly a million years ago
with our hominoid ancestors, and
Very few constitute the basis for
advancing biological evolution by accelerating in the last hundred
thousand years with the emergence of
appearing at a time when the
environment happens to confer an Homo Sapiens.
advantage to the organism possessing
that particular mutant gene. The human cerebral cortex has
doubled in size in the last million
There is environmental selectivity, not years. We have developed a bipedal
posture, the latter freeing our hands
only to favor the exceptional viable
gene mutation producing biological for the purpose of manipulation so
that we could develop evolutionary
progress, but also social
environmental selectivity to favor advantage accruing from weapons
and tool making. The former, giving
certain ideas contributing to social
progress. Like mutant genes, an idene man the capacity to invent language
and symbolic communication. This
can be before its time, the social
climate may not be right for its gave man an advantage over other
animals, in spite of his nakedness and
acceptance, and many ideas are
harmful and may be even lethal to the helplessness, which made his
evolutionary progress very rapid
individual and to society; for example,
Nazism, Fascism, militant indeed.
39
times faster than the biological
Roughly ten thousand years ago, evolution which produced us.
agriculture was discovered. Five
thousand years ago, the city state came Societies are built by ideas and, within
into being. The whole history of limits, the more new ideas to compete
invention is the core of the social with each other for social acceptance,
evolution. In the last three hundred the more effective social evolution is
years, the accelerated developments likely to be.
through science are a continuation of
this amazing social evolution which is Freedom of individuals to express and
as much faster as biological evolution develop many ideas is necessary for
in its rate, as biological evolution is progress in social evolution, just as
faster than cosmic evolution which I many mutations must be screened by
talked about in the third lecture. natural selection for the development
of an improved or a new species of
To put it more dramatically, if we plant or animal. While novelty in the
think of a time scale for measuring life form of mutations and new ideas is
on earth as equal to one year instead necessary for biological and social
of two billion years, then modern man progress, the environmentally tested
has lived on the earth less than a genes and idenes must have stability
single hour, he has been civilized for and continuity to maintain stable
about two minutes, has practiced species and stable societies to resist the
science for about one second and has effect of lethal genes and idenes.
lived in the nuclear age for about
1/10th of a second. This lends a sense Now one must not go too far in
of time urgency to the testing of drawing the parallelism between
mutant idenes which was never biological and social evolution,
present for mutant genes. without taking care to emphasize that
the two are very closely intertwined
The environmental testing of genes since the roots of the idenes are, of
and idenes must have stability and course, in the biological functions of
continuity to maintain stables species the brain.
and stable societies, to resist the effect
of lethal genes and lethal idenes. Since One can think of idenes as patterns in
we are well on our way to producing the central nervous system, produced
an optimum biological environment by certain interactions of that
which will minimize the evolutionary genetically operated system with a
mutation of our genes, the full particular cultural output which
responsibility falls on the behavioral produces their characteristic behavior
and social sciences to test the values patterns including those very complex
we live by, and to be wise enough to fields of dynamic association which
do it in a time scale which is a million we call subjective experience or self
consciousness. Idenes are not in the
40
nervous system, but are the culturally contribute in any positive way to the
structured presentations, or stimulus gene pool if we have no children. But
patterns, which are presented to it. Yet it is hard to conceive of anyone who
idenes are in the brain and its does not make a specific impact on the
behavior. idene pool.
Our genes come already structured Let me emphasize that I only said that
from the outside, but become the immortality of idenes was “more
incorporated within, to mold the readily discernible,” not that it was
general structures and behaviors from any more effective because, in genetic
within. In parallel with this, idenes history, negative contributions to the
may consist of the customary patterns gene pool are just as important for the
of the language or the culture, together future of the genotype as are positive
with the customary gestures and contributions.
related signs that accompany these
linguistic patterns. The transmission of This is also an extension of my
idenes and structuring and statement last week of the positive
restructuring of behavior that they nature of death. Whereas in biological
produce, are an extension of biology. evolution, death is important to clear
the way for more statistically variable
The idenotype, that is the type of organisms to be tried in the balance of
behavior that is controlled by ideas, is the survival of the fittest, it is not
administered by the surrounding absolutely required as long as the
society and provides a semi organism is not competing for
independent reservoir of information nourishment and space. However,
for life, transmitted from generation to with the idenotype, this is different.
generation by means only semi
independent of the genotype. Man is The human brain has evolved; as we
the first creature in the evolution of age we become less willing and less
life on earth to possess this kind of able to entertain new ideas at the very
heritage to any high degree. It is what time when our cultural evolution
makes man unique among the species makes us leaders in the society. This,
of life on the earth. of course, provides one of the
important stabilizing influences on the
The idenotype, like the genotype, is society which allows it to function in a
immortal. Each individual receives his responsible way. But it inhibits the fair
or her heritage from it, and contributes trial of idenotopic mutations and,
his small increment to it. Actually, the therefore, the evolutionary
idenotopic immortality is much more development of societies as a whole is
readily discernible than man's necessarily served by the periodic
contribution to the gene pool (I define removal of the leaders of the culture.
the gene pool as the sum total of our
genetic material). Some of us do not
41
Death in this respect is an important
process in the cultural evolution. To “Furthermore, the issue must be
emphasize further the investigated and solved separately
interdependence of the biological and for each function, trait, or
social evolution. characteristic that comes under
consideration. Suppose one collects
Let me quote at some length from a good data on the genetic and
paper by the noted biologist Theodore environmental components of the
Doszhansky of the Rockefeller observed diversity in intelligence
Institute in New York. He was writing quotients, or in the resistance to
in the Eugenics Quarterly and part of tuberculosis. It would not tell us
his statement is the following: anything about the diversity of
temperament, or the resistance to
“The diversity of the personality cancer.
would seem to be as great and
surely more telling than the “All too often forgotten, and yet a
diversity of skin colors or other most basic fact, is that the genes
physical traits. and though the determine not traits or characters
biological basis of both kinds of but the ways in which the organism
diversity is the same in principle, it responds to the environment. One
is different enough in its outward inherits not the skin color and the
manifestations that the difference intelligence, but only genes which
constitutes a genuine problem.” make the development of certain
(Incidentally this problem is often color and intelligence possible.
found, perhaps in your reading, as
the naturenurture problem). “The “To state the same thing with a
confusion which has beset this slightly different emphasis, the gene
problem for a long time has been complement determines the path
due in part to the problem having which the development of a person
been wrongly stated: Which human will take, given the sequence of the
traits are due to heredity and which environment which this person
to environment? No trait can arise encounters in the process of living.
unless the heredity of the organism
makes it possible and no heredity “Any developmental process,
operates outside the environment. whether physiological or
A meaningful way is to ask what psychological, can be influenced or
part of the diversity observed in a modified by genetic as well as by
given calculation is conditioned by environmental variables. The
the genetic differences between realization of heredity is
persons composing the calculation manageable within limits by
and what part is due to the physiological and social
upbringing, the education, and engineering. What the limits are
other environmental variables? depends upon our understanding
42
of the developmental processes grow, but their perfected adaptation
involved. so necessary for their survival in
general dooms their continued
“Mankind’s singular and singularly existence as climates change, enemies
powerful adaptive instrument is perfect their weapons, continental ice
culture. Culture is not inherited fields advance. etc. It becomes the
through genes, it is acquired by creatures which have maintained
learning from other human beings. generalized adaptability which
The ability to learn and thus to survive and from which evolve
acquire a culture and to become a succeeding forms.
member of a society is, however,
given by the genetic endowment Cope’s law has been amply
that is mankind’s distinctive demonstrated as valid for biological
biological aptitude. In a sense, evolution, and should serve as
human genes have surrendered something of a danger signal in
their primacy in human evolution viewing part of our social and
to an entirely new nonbiological or religious evolution as we look around
superorganic agent culture. society as it is formed today.
However, it should not be forgotten For example, the highly integrated
that this agent is dependent on the totalitarian societies may be
human genotype.” spectacularly successful for a while,
but the rigid specialization of function
Now let me bring up one of the very within the society entails too great an
real dangers which are everpresent atrophy of individual ability, and the
both in biological and social evolution. equally rigid overall structure
This is a danger which is called “over prevents adaptation to change external
specialization.” There is a law of conditions.
biological development formulated by
Edward Drinker Cope which states Another more subtle danger in the
that “the highly developed or evolution of cultures is their tendency
specialized types of one geological to specialize on meeting the desires of
period has not been parents of the but a limited fraction of the human
types of succeeding periods. But the species. A specific culture has always
descent has been derived from the less been cherished at least in part because
specialized of preceding ages.” To put of its survival value in the face of
it in less formal language, it is the attacks from other cultures. Even the
more adaptable and generally the visions of human brotherhood
smaller forms of life that are best able characteristic of the great religions
to meet new conditions which destroy have too often been at least passively
the already dominant and successful restricted to the members of a
type. The highly and narrowly particular group. In extreme cases,
adapted flourish, their proficiency salvation becomes tied to some
may increase, their numbers may specialized form of sacrifice and the
43
Lord's work becomes identified with Thus, to return to Wallace’s definition
obliterating those who prefer to which I gave you in the first lecture of
sacrifice in another way. revitalization movement, those
organized efforts by members of
Perhaps the crucial Darwinian society to construct a more satisfying
question for our time of crisis now is culture, are polarized about, and
whether or not man can broaden his administered by, an Establishment.
culture, his concept of human
brotherhood and tolerance for The one which we must discuss a little
variation, so that it becomes co more is the church. The church is the
extensive with his gene pool. For, administrative unit which provides
important though the evolution of the focus and catalyst for the religious
culture has been for the advancement enterprise, and therefore those who
of human welfare, it can only work accept the responsibility for church
with the biological stuff of which man leadership in a very real sense are
is made. accepting the responsibility for
helping to guide the evolutionary
This, in turn, is all contained in the development, not only of our society
few milligrams of genetic material but of our species as well.
spread throughout the entire human
race that we discussed last week. Until Looking at the church in this
this moment in history, the perspective, it is in a much more
composition of genetic material and its central position than the general
development were entirely controlled public image supports. It is not just an
by the impersonal forces of natural organization for worship where ritual,
selection. But it now seems to stand, at myths, and dogmas are enacted and
least in part, to the mercy of man expounded to inspire revitalization
himself and provide meaning and purpose for
life of the individual. But rather it is
The specific idene, to return to Henry the central establishment which
Murray’s word, which centralized and provides both leadership and a form
organized the direction of social for mankind to guide his evolutionary
evolution is the acceptance of what direction both socially and
could be called The Establishment, to biologically. Now I hope it is obvious
use a word in current vogue. The that I am using the term church not in
Establishment represents and acts for any Christian connotation, but as a
the will of the society and thereby name for the establishment which
guides social evolution. The guides religious enterprise.
Establishment is really plural; in our
modern world it is bifurcated in its One must realize also that since
simplest form into the church and the religions are intimately interwoven
state. with the fabric of the culture in which
they arise and grow, there are very
44
many churches performing their
necessary guiding functions which can We have now come face to face with
be utterly different in their dogma and the absolute necessity for developing a
mythology and still provide the meaning, a purpose, and a goal for our
necessary inspiration and goals for the social and behavioral evolution so as
social evolution of the species . to properly guide our biological
evolution, which means, incidentally,
Actually, of course, within any one our very existence on earth.
culture such as our own, since there is
a tremendous variation in intellectual, The church, as the socially evolved
emotional, and educational aptitudes establishment for guiding this area of
and susceptibility, if the church is to our behavior, will lead the way for our
perform its guiding function it must future development; and the
have real and basic meaning to the professionals within the churches —
tremendously wide statistical spread the ministers , the priests, the
inherent in Homo Sapiens as he has commissars , the swamis, the heiggs ,
evolved. and the rabbis — will focus
operational actions to lead their
With this view in mind one is led to constituents in a direction that they
the unavoidable conclusion that the feel right. The great unknown for the
religious establishment must take future is whose ideas will guide our
many forms to be relevant to such a destiny; and in what direction will we
variety of human temperaments as be headed?
have resulted from our evolution. It
must avoid, at all costs, the danger of Obviously, we are not going to answer
overspecialization which I have these questions in this seminar; on the
mentioned to have a real meaning for other hand, an understanding of social
mankind as a whole. evolution and the forces which shape
its direction surely is a first step for
The church leaders, the leaders of the finding what directions these might
establishment, which have taken on be.
the job of guiding the values by which
we live, are those upon whose
shoulders the burden must fall, for all
the development of methodology for
coping with the ever more rapid
evolution which has caught up with us
in the area of the social and behavioral
sciences. We have wrested from
nature that produced us in the
evolutionary process much of the
further development of our own
species.
45
46
VI God, Man, and Immortality
I
values of myths and symbols
arbitrarily asserted to be true even
when not grounded in scientific
n this chapter I want to revise and reality. But this laudable integrity of
admitting their God to be dead is no
draw together my view of the present
state of God, man and immortality, more likely to preserve Christian faith
than a declaration that the stars do not
and in the next chapter I want to take a
look at the future. determine human destiny is likely to
preserve faith in astrology.
With the rise of our new cosmology in
What we want and probably must
science, the attributes of a Christian
deity (and let me talk about this briefly have is a firm conviction of what it is,
in fact, that does control our destiny.
since it is in the tradition in which my
ideas have been nurtured) appear When theologians cut themselves off,
or are by other elements of the culture
increasingly to be in conflict with the
newer notions of reality. In the past cut off, from the credibility or reality
of the critical entity of their raison
century, the Christian God was
pronounced dead by the philosopher d’etre, then their theology becomes
Nietzsche, who seemed to represent dead with the culture.
an opinion shared by most of the
intellectual leaders of the culture. In I am taking the exactly reverse
the past decade, Christian theologians direction from "God is dead" and I
themselves began more openly to assert that the contemporary sciences
declare that their God is dead and are a new revelation of the
began to agree with the general transcendent powers which are the
culture that what you might call “God ground of all being. The sciences tell
talk” had best be abandoned as it us that there are superhuman forces
carried no meaning to modern man. A which create man’s world and man.
similar fate seems to apply to all other The best course for theologians is not
Gods or sacred realities of all cultures to declare the death of God, but the
in the new light of science. rebirth of God in a new form. Part of
the problem of theology today is the
The new "God is dead" movement unwillingness of religionists to accept
seems to represent a new attempt at new definitions.
intellectual integrity which the
scientific culture or cosmology forces Let me give you an illustration from
upon modern theologians as they physics. The word atom means
begin to feel disenchanted a half unsplitable particles. The word was
century battle to defend the sacred taken up in modern science over a
core of Christianity by appeal to century ago from the Greek science or
47
philosophy to denote hypothetical, Names or symbols have no inherent or
unsplitable particles of physics or intrinsic meaning. In the 19th century
chemistry which characterize the the Austrian physicist Ernst Mach
various kinds of substances or pioneered in clarifying this philosophy
elements of the material world. A few of science which shows how the
decades ago it became apparent that models of science are tied to common
the unsplitable atomic particles were sensory elements of experience by
not unsplitable, but on the contrary statements that connect sensory
they were quite splitable and not experience to a linguistic symbol in the
atomic. most correct way. This clarification of
the meaning of terms by operations
But physical scientists have no made it possible to weed out of the
problem in declaring their continued language the many ambiguities and
belief in atoms even though literally irrelevancies that it otherwise would
they are not now, in the light of new contain. It made it possible for us to
scientific knowledge, “atoms.” communicate more precisely to one
another what it is that we are talking
They were able to use the word in about.
both its earlier and its new meaning
and did not have to declare that the As a result, the scientific community
atom was dead. Theologians as well as can attain a consensus, coherence, and
the general public, however, have had integration between their statements
such a fixation on previous and the world of universal human
connotations of a word, term, or experience far transcending that of any
symbols that when some attributes of other language.
the entity no longer were credible,
they had to declare the whole business To understand this point of view you
dead. Credible notions became should read P. W. Bridgeman’s book
incredible myths. Theists became Reflections of a Physicist. Bridgeman
atheists. But atomists did not become has written for his whole life on what
“tomists.” we now call “operational analysis”
and he pioneered the link between
The ability of the scientist to forget the sensory experience and words or
seeming logical contradictions of their symbols.
words or symbols lies in their capacity This book, a collection of his writings,
to define their symbols operationally is one you will find gives you a much
rather than logically. For the scientific better picture of this way of looking at
community, the reality or meaning of the meaning of words than any short
an entity does not lie in its name but in statement that I might make.
its behavior or operation which links
the name with an empirical experience One thing one must be aware of is that
that we share. the attempt to derive precise meaning
of words is a very long and hard thing
48
to do. I believe that theologians have the term any tie to empirical
not yet begun to appreciate the experience...any operational meaning,
possibility of redefining many of their and hence any meaning at all for the
terms, and I would not expect in any language of science.
short length of time that new
definitions would be either accepted The only way to get entry of the term
or understood. "God” into the world of contemporary
sciences is to show how it may be
Again, if I would suggest that you do defined operationally. If we establish
some more reading, let me draw to such a definition of God, there can be
your attention a more difficult book, no atheists. That is, if we define some
which is by Irwin Herbert. It is a book entity whether its name be God or
which is entitled Historical Roots of Atom, in a way that we more or less
the Principles of Conservation of universally know to which of their
Energy. It is a study of the attempt to experiences that term is properly tied,
define the single word “energy” in then no one can deny it since one
physics starting with Aristotle going cannot deny one’s own experience.
through Philo in the 3rd century B.C.
through Hero of Alexandria in the 1st Although in such a case there may be
century A.D. up through Galileo and no atheists, it may be that theists will
finally to Newton. It is an expression no more be like the earlier concept of
of the attempt of people to define theists than the present concept of
words with sufficient clarity so that atom is like an earlier one. Let me at
they can be used universally and have this point make an aside to those
everybody understand what the word particularly among you who might be
means. called militant Unitarians. I have tried
this experiment a number of times. I
If you are not a physicist it will be tried it on you the other night and I
difficult for you to read but it is worth now know which of you I would
looking at just to show how hard it is define as a militant Unitarian.
to define terms even in the scientific
meaning of the term. Surely in The way you find this out is to refer to
theology this will be even more God with the pronoun Him, and then
difficult. Nevertheless, this is what I people will start jumping. If you
would like to try to do. analyze this reaction it does not make
very much sense. You talk, for
First, I would like to present to you an example, of your country as “her” and
operational definition of God. The sing “My Country ‘Tiz of Thee,” you
term "God” was thrown out of the talk about death as “Him” and you
book of sciences by the early even sing a hymn “Death, Where Is
positivists because the theologians and Thy Sting?”
metaphysicians involved in the
argument insisted in refusing to allow
49
Without trying to commit yourselves our most reasonable and validated
to anthropomorphic imagery, one can explanation of what brings all things
just as well use the English pronoun as into being, which created the heavens
any other way to refer to an and earth, which brought forth life
operational definition of an entity upon the earth, sustains it, and lays
which I have defined as God. down requirements and possibilities
for its future. This conceptual system
Here again, I think that if the general is the determiner of human and all
public will take the time to under destiny. For the scientific community,
stand the scientific methodological it is not a dead concept but a living
concepts I introduced in our second and dynamic one.
meeting—of discussing highly abstract
concepts without trying to visualize Now theologians are quite aware of
any particular model—then as long as this picture of the cosmos, but they are
the operational definition is clear, it is loathe to admit it as the new model for
as much a waste of breath to discuss their Gods for various reasons, such as
whether to refer to God as he, her, or its nonhuman or impersonal character
it, as it is to talk about the death of which seems to rule out all sense in
God. I believe both of these things are ritual or petitionary prayer,
a waste of time. forgiveness, love, and redemption.
What is significant in all this is that the It seemingly does not operate to
newer scientific concepts for verbal sanction, in the human community at
formulations or symbolic systems do least, the rules of life that theologians
not so much deny or destroy the felt as essentially sacred in their
earlier ones as to build more validly tradition. It raises the problems with
upon them. For most practical religious doctrines of man, his
purposes of applied physics and freedom and responsibility, doctrines
chemistry, the atom still possesses the of good and evil, and the nature and
attributes connoted by unsplitable. I immortality of his soul.
expect that in an operationally derived
God this will also share in Let us discuss the validity of these
discontinuity with earlier values of the interpretations. The scientific cosmos
term as we clarify its meaning in is more like the God of the Old
accordance with scientific cosmology. Testament. As I pointed out before, it
is, according to my definition, a single,
I have already indicated that the integrated system of reality and the
scientific community will have no law of its operation creates and
trouble with faith in a hypothesis sustains all that is, and operates from
concerning an essentially integrated everlasting to everlasting. It is more
system of forces or powers far like the deity which man must serve
transcending mankind and man’s and obey than one which man can
ordinary perceptions which is, in fact, manage. But I believe that if you look
50
at the definition which I have written social prayer. First let me define
down, it will be valid for every “social.” It is: “All those interactive
definitional picture that you can relations between individuals or
imagine for God to be, in the light of groups in which needs are satisfied. It
our scientific knowledge. is the process of interaction between
organisms during which they confer
Let me discuss some of the theological survival benefits upon each other."
problems, however. First, what about
prayer? I have defined prayer as the As I said, there are two kinds of prayer
revitalization activity of the — the private prayer and the social
individual. Many theologians fear that prayer. Private prayer is, in my view,
the scientific picture of reality does the process of getting one's self in
away with the credibility in the order. Sometimes it is talking to
effectiveness of prayer which has been oneself. Sometimes it is talking to the
a ritual and belief of religions for a outside, talking, if you like, to the
long time. administration of the universe.
Now it is true that the effectiveness of Those of you that have really prayed
petitionary prayer, asking private or realize that you can do this without
collective favors from the deity, praying to anyone. You do not have to
depends on the presumption that the have an anthropomorphic God to pray
deity is anthropoid or has to. You can wander through the
characteristics like human parents or meadow or through the woods, you
kings. This I do not believe. But this can get yourself in order by thinking
does not mean that I disregard or even your own thoughts and feeling that
feel the less important, the idea of you are being revitalized by this
prayer. process of putting yourself, if you like,
at the mercy of nature.
There is an everincreasing body of
biochemical knowledge which points The second kind of prayer is more
to a very real, physiological as well as involved. The second kind of prayer,
psychological, benefit to prayer, as a the social prayer, often goes by the
necessary stimulus to the biochemical term of worship, and I have defined
reaction in the body for stress relief. worship as “prayer carried on as, and
stimulated by, group activity.”. The
It is somewhat similar to the importance of worship is that it can
adrenaline reaction in the body at stimulate an activity of group
times of fear, in which tremendous dynamics which is technically called
activity and strength can be suddenly amplification. You can define
given to the body as a result of the amplification in many ways, but one
release of adrenaline. To talk about way is to say that it is "the
prayer, one must talk about two kinds multiplication of effectiveness of a
of prayer. There is private prayer and function or activity.”
51
belligerence between competing
We can see the importance of powers, or in the rise and fall of great
amplification as soon as we consider religions.
how, in the biological world, the brain
directs the activities of an animal or a There are two different kinds of chain
person. The brain is a small organism reactions. One is represented in society
which receives information from the by selfstabilizing organizations and
senses and makes decisions that are selfstabilizing situations. These are
amplified and carried through the characterized by internal or external
metabolizing pathways of the nerves (and I’m using a technical term now)
until they are amplified again in the negative feed back. That is, they return
muscles and serve as a trigger to to their previous equilibrium when
release the full physical powers of the disturbed.
body in achieving what the brain
decided was needed. The second category is represented by
selfamplifying organizations or
Likewise, for society, the decision situations. These are characterized by
making group in the society is positive feed back, so that they run
frequently an individual or a small away from equilibrium either in one
group which can often channel the direction to the point of indefinite
entire power of a whole community or growth or in the other direction to the
society into one direction, sometimes point or vanishing destruction.
with and sometimes without the full
consent of the individual. It is through the stimulus of worship
that society provides the mechanism
Amplification, as I am using it here, is of both negative and positive feed
a social type of chain reaction. The back and it is therefore one of the most
chain reaction point of view gives us important factors to provide a
an especially clear understanding of mechanism for both controlling,
the relation between the role of the stabilizing and providing effective
individual and the role of determinism mutations for social and religious
in history. A stabilized chain reaction evolution.
system has within its limits of stability
a certain unstoppable character, a This whole subject has been brought to
certain inevitability, about its the fore with the invention by Norbert
operation. Wiener of cybernetics. For those of
you, again, that would like to do some
There is an inevitability of a different more reading, let me suggest that you
kind in the explosion or decay of an read Norbert Wiener’s book, The
unstable chain reaction. We see this in Human Use of Human Beings. This is
such social instances as the decline of a book which has a subtitle
kings, or the rise of an industrial Cybernetics and Society, which, in my
revolution, or the growth of opinion, is a discussion of the
52
operation of worship in the society, in hand, that as you look at larger groups
terms of how ideas are fed into society of particles, particularly large enough
and how society reacts to these ideas. to be molecules, then they behave as
the laws of physics predicted they
How about such concepts within the should behave in terms of being able
theological sphere of discussion as the to measure them both in time and in
dignity of man, good and evil, and space. An individual person is
finally, man’s immortal soul. These something like this.
can clearly be discussed within the
framework of the theological model I An individual has the statistical
have seen presenting. freedom to do what one will. On the
other hand, the evolutionary forces
First, let me talk about the dignity of which produced us make it very
man. Do we, for example, have a free specific that we will not, on the
will to guide own behavior? The average, do anything which will
answer here is, it depends on what prevent us from living and from
level you look at man. If you look at helping the evolutionary process to
him as individuals, and give us the develop.
boundary value that we must behave
as humans, then the answer is "Yes, This does not mean we cannot get on
we have free will.” On the other hand, the top of a building and jump off.
on the average, our behavior is totally People do so every day. But, on the
determined by the evolutionary forces average, humans do not, and if they
that produced us. did, we would not survive as a race.
Therefore, our individuality is truly at
This seeming contradiction is perhaps our own mercy within our ability to
made clearer if you will remember a react to the stimuli about us, but on
principle which I enunciated some the average our behavior is totally
weeks ago, the Heisenberg uncertainty determined by the evolutionary
principle. The Heisenberg uncertainty process which produced us.
principle says (in physics now) that
one cannot simultaneously specify This brings me to another concept
both the location and the motion of a which theologians like to talk
body within certain very narrow about....that of good and evil. What is
limits. good? In the model which I am
presenting to you, good is defined as
The statement I made was that that which has survival value in both
elementary particles had, as far as a biological and social evolution. Evil is
physicist was concerned, no shape and the reverse.
they occupied no particular place
because if you tried to look at them too Lastly, let me talk about the soul. I
specifically you would not be able to defined the soul as that which persists
see that they were there. On the other and evolves and remains in being even
53
though the body disintegrates. I doubt and is transmitted through non
if anybody could argue with this biochemical media from one
definition...it seems to me agreeable to individual to another. My primary
most theological concepts of the soul suggestion is that the scientist offers us
as well as the ordinary understanding a realistic conceptualization of both
of the word. God and soul if we can wrench
ourselves away from the traditional
The picture of man presented by the stereotype and formulate the
sciences is a picture of an immortal functional analogue in the very heart
program transcending the life of the of the language of the sciences.
individual’s four score or possibly five
score years by perhaps a billion times. To me, the concept of God and soul,
Anyone who thinks that the here and which I have been formulating, stands
now of his existential feeling, the life out as valid realities in the light of
of his body from birth to death, is the sciences and as religiously and
beginning and the end is not motivationally relevant and quite
scientifically informed about his own analogous to the ancient religious
nature and his own inherent values. formulations. I do not assert that these
Nor does a tale told by an idiot signify are the only or the best formulations,
nothing. but I find them presently credible,
coherent and, to me, religiously
The picture of each individual, which moving.
one may derive from the sciences, is
one of an immortal reality that persists To me, and I think for anyone who
and develops an even more marvelous shares this perspective with me, the
pattern of increasing order from age to word salvation also becomes a
age in unbroken continuity for several meaningful term. What we must do to
billions of years. be saved in the light of the progress of
modern science and theology is the
The soul, as I have formulated it on subject for my next chapter.
the basis of the scientific picture of life,
is that which persists and evolves and I believe we have arrived at a point in
remains in being even though the evolution when we ourselves can
body disintegrates. In plant and control our own salvation as human
animal systems of life such an entity beings and as the product of our
has been verified in the gene pool of evolutionary processes. What we do
the species where is stored most of the with this ability is to me a grave
information which determines and concern, and it is for this reason I have
structures the behavior of successive entitled my final talk "Is a New
generations. Religion Necessary?”
In man, a special culture has been
structured by previous generations
54
VII Is a New Religion Necessary?
H
property will assume catastrophic
proportions, and for many millions of
people the explosion of nuclear
uman destiny can be viewed in many warheads will be terminal. However,
the real threat to the race will not be
perspectives, both longrange and
shortrange. Do we mean by human the initial annihilation but the clouds
of radioactive waste that will be swept
destiny, the destiny of the human race,
or do we mean civilization, or do we up into the high atmosphere and then
rained down on us in subsequent
mean human culture? Is our time scale
historical, anthropological, or generations. I cannot see that this will
spell the doom of the human race.
geological? First, let me look at the
immediate destiny of the human race
It is a fact of present geography that if
and its relation to what is uppermost
in many people’s minds —nuclear the war should start that people are
now contemplating, the bombs would
warfare.
be distributed almost exclusively in
the northern temperate latitude. I
It is, of course, impossible to be a
prophet, and assuming this role leaves think you all may be familiar with the
general circulation of the atmosphere,
one open to error and also to ridicule.
But I do believe that we are not going but let me review it for you.
Circulation begins at the equator
to annihilate ourselves. If we are not
wise enough, we may well destroy our where solar radiation is most intense
and the air rises. The air cools
present civilization and culture. But to
me it is the height of vanity to assume gradually as it rises and eventually at
a high altitude some of the air heads
that other civilizations and other
cultures cannot rise from any northward and some southward.
Along the earth’s surface, winds move
shambles we create, to produce,
hopefully, a better and certainly toward the equator and replace the
rising air.
equally satisfactory human
civilization. Actually, I do not think
If the earth were not rotating, and if no
things are nearly that ominous. This
belief is based on science and not on complicating continental masses were
present, simple convection motion
emotions. Let me share with you my
thoughts for a few minutes. would result; air would rise at the
equator, sink near the poles, and move
There is no doubt about the fact that if horizontally between the two areas.
we get into nuclear warfare the
destruction of human life and However, due to the earth’s rotation,
much of the air which rises at the
55
equator and starts northward or to await the decay of the folly of his
southward is deflected eastward so ancestors, he is clever enough to do so.
that our winds in these latitudes slow
in an eastwest direction. The My own opinion is that I am painting
equatorial belt is characterized by much too grim a picture. As far as my
variable winds and calms and serves biological and medical colleagues tell
as a buffer between. Solid dust me, radiation exposure produces no
material produced in the northern new diseases over those which occur
hemisphere will not mix readily with naturally, although the incidence of
the air masses in the southern them may be greatly changed. Our
hemisphere. Even if the northern success with biological and chemical
hemispherians doom themselves to a therapy has been so spectacular that I
radioactive rain, many, many millions can see no reason why, in the long run,
of human beings in the southern we cannot look forward to as
hemisphere are much less affected. successful antidotes for the group of
diseases generally lumped under the
This is, of course, only a short range heading of "radiation sickness" as we
argument based on the present have for poliomyelitis and bubonic
political struggle. If we are successful plague.
in avoiding conflict in this century, it
is obviously possible and in fact Great concern has been voiced in
probable that the dominant political many quarters about the genetic
centers of gravity will move south of effects of radiation. Here again, in the
the equator in the future. On the framework of the survival of the
assumption that they will be no wiser human race, I do not believe that there
than we, and find it expedient to fill is a real problem, even granting that
their cyclones with radioactive dust, there is a genetic effect. There are
although considerably more limited in many who claim that a person has to
extent, there will still be millions of receive more than a lethal dose before
square miles of the surface of the earth it can be proven statistically that there
for Homo Sapiens to live and breed. has been a radiation effect on the
person’s genes.
You have probably all seen maps
plotting the radioactive dust clouds as While I’m on this subject let me
they sweep around the earth and comment relative to the theory of
notice that they circulate across lines genetic degradation resulting from
of longitude and not latitude; they do civilization tampering with the
not go north and south, but would evolutionary elimination of
travel from east to west or west to east unsatisfactory mutations. I am rather
depending on which side of the convinced by those biologists who tell
equator they are detonated. If man us that there is nothing inherent in the
must hide for his survival in the polar problem which rules out a yet to be
sides of the Arctic and Antarctic circles discovered biochemical therapy of the
56
genes similar in principle to the many survive and will arrive at the same
other controls that we now use on origin in time as I am now going to
many other parts of the human consider him to be.
organism.
Let us now look at the future
The problems we are now creating for development: first, of the physical
ourselves, in a historical perspective, sciences as it affects man’s own future.
are of only temporary concern, and One of the most significant directions
before I leave this discussion let me which the practical application of
remind you of the perspective with physical sciences is taking is in the
which I am viewing human destiny. I direction of environmental control.
am trying to view it in the indefinite There has been a consistent
future in an anthropological time progression of this development to a
scale, if you will. When I sound as if I larger and larger scale.
am dismissing, for example, all human
life in the northern temperate zones, it It started with man’s early attempt at
is not that I am unaware of the individual temperature and humidity
unimaginable horror of such an event, control to cover his nakedness with
but I am trying to look beyond it to the clothing. He then studied the basic
future destiny of mankind. principles of mechanics and applied
this knowledge to the construction of
What I have just been discussing is a houses so that he would not have to be
section which might be entitled T he
restricted to naturally occurring caves
B omb
. It is a discussion of short range and caverns. He gained knowledge in
destiny. Within the next few years, the field we would now call chemistry
perhaps the next century, we will and applied it to heating his house
either resort to nuclear warfare or we with fire and controlling his local
will find some other way of discussing agricultural environment with
our social and political problems. In fertilizers so that he would not have to
either case, I think mankind as an move on every few generations when
animal will survive. he had exhausted the nutrients of his
soil.
In looking to his future as a boundary
value problem, it is his future from the Today, we have our local temperature
origin of man to the present that I am and humidity environment under
discussing. I do believe that if we control. The roof over our head and
stoop to settling our conflicts by the furnace in the basement and the air
nuclear warfare our present conditioner in the window assure us
civilization and culture may well be of such a constant temperature that we
destroyed. This may then result in a really have completely supplanted the
shift in our time scale From 1,000 to necessity of wearing clothes in our
10,000, perhaps 100,000 years, artificial environment.
backwards. But eventually man will
57
However, we are just beginning to the weather and with this
realize that we can greatly enlarge the fundamental knowledge will come the
control of our environment to the technological development of weather
entire globe. The painstaking, highly control. Hand in hand with our
theoretical and at times abstruse control of the weather will come our
sciences of thermo and fluid control of water, so that it will be
dynamics are finding undreamed of perfectly possible, and in my own
technological applications as the opinion probable, that complete
geophysics of the atmosphere begins climate control will be achieved,
to be understood. certainly in chosen areas of the globe
in which man has selected to flourish.
One of the real excitements of this age
is our first look at the earth from the It does not seem to me difficult to find
outside. Although it seems to be an man’s aim in searching for the control
unfortunate political necessity to tie of his environment. He is seeking, and
our socalled "space research" to I believe he is finding, an optimum
military expediencies, its longrange biological medium for the present
advantages to mankind should ease human organism to live and breathe
our consciences. As a matter of fact, and have its being. The evolutionary
we have made so little progress in our consequences of this are of primary
social and political evolution that I importance. But before I expand on
suspect that the first houses were built this let me continue to look into the
more for fortification against man’s future development of the physical
enemies, including other men, than sciences under some such title as "The
with any conscious incentive toward Elimination of Onerous Activities"—
environmental control. and by these I mean specifically:
moving and thinking.
For all our grumbling about the costs,
space research is here to stay, not The elimination of the necessity of
because satellites can hover nuclear man moving himself has in principle
warheads, like Damoclesian swords been already solved. True, there are
over the heads of wouldbe technological problems which have
aggressors, nor because they can not been solved to our satisfaction and
provide convenient communication these, in fact, may take some
links, but for a much bigger and long generations to solve. But from a
range reason. Man is after controlling theoretical point of view, man can
the weather. accomplish all his physical works and
move anywhere on the earth with no
Our most modern ability, which at the more effort than pushing buttons or
moment is only a glimpse of our earth speaking into a microphone.
from an external coordinate system,
will develop in the future to a full In connection with the problem of
scale ability to gather the facts about moving, it is worthwhile considering
58
whether man is really going to travel
out into space or whether there are The basic problem is that of time. If we
some recognizable boundary must travel distances of 20 to 100 light
conditions within which his future years, we must achieve speeds close to
activities must take place. Here again, the velocity of light, to be in any way
since I am going to foretell the future, I practical for mankind. We must,
open myself not only to arguments but therefore ask: Is it theoretically
to ridicule. But, hopefully, I also open possible to accelerate a rocket ship to
the door for fruitful discussion. say 1/5 the velocity of light? The
answer is "Yes."
By traveling out into space, I do not
mean visiting members or our own If we achieve control of thermonuclear
solar system. First of all, these are fusion, for example, this kind of power
sufficiently local so that some of us could get a rocket ship up to 1/5 the
here may well live to see it an velocity of light and, calculating the
accomplished fact, and secondly, it possible accelerations and
will have no real significance as far as decelerations, we could make the
the destiny of man is concerned since round trip to the nearest star in about
none of the planets can boast of a 200 years. Of course, if you went
hospitable biological medium in slower than this it would take much
which man can exist. It might well be longer.
important to man’s future if he could
find other planets sufficiently like the The obvious direction we should work
earth so he himself could survive and for is to go faster, not slower. If we go
hopefully compare his development much faster, that is, if we go very close
with other creatures sufficiently close to the velocity of light, a curious
to his own evolutionary development relativistic effect takes place.
to help him shape his own destiny.
The flow of time for the rocket crew
To do this he must travel outside the becomes different from that on earth.
solar system. Assuming he is lucky A calculation of this effect comes out
enough to find suitable life on one of with the result that if a rocket ship
the first ten or dozen nearer stars, he with sufficient power to fly very close
must reach out a distance of about 20 to the velocity of light were to take
light years, that is a distance that it thirty years for the crew of the rocket
would take light 20 years to traverse. ship to get to Orion and back, then the
Such a trip is inconceivable at elapsed time on earth (not for this
presently known techniques by many, rocket crew, but on earth) between
many orders of magnitude. But let us their departure and their return would
examine the possibility from be about 3,000 years.
fundamental physical concepts rather
than be bound by any technological Therefore, there is a question as to
problems. whether going there and back would
59
be worthwhile, although certainly Therefore, standing at our origin of
going there might be good for the time, the present, we cannot say
rocket crew. whether these areas of intelligence, the
ability to generalize and philosophize,
There really is a very interesting can be duplicated by machines.
problem when one looks to the future
which lies in the area of artificial I have only discussed so far the logical
intelligence. Can we devise computers and physical possibility of artificial
which will do our thinking for us? intelligence. There is, of course, the
practical possibility which must be
Here we must define three degrees of based on what can actually be
possibility. A solution is logically achieved and here I must remind you
obtainable if it can be described free of that I am discussing the physical
contradiction. It is physically possible sciences, characterized by increasing
if it does not violate any of the laws of entropy, or in much simpler language,
physics. It is practicably possible if it characterized by systems which
can actually be achieved by known perpetually are wearing out.
techniques and materials.
The fundamental complexity of an
It is certainly logically and physically intelligence machine increases at an
possible for a digital computer to do alarming rate as we try to build into it
any sort of information processing that anything approaching human
humans can do. By the technical term versatility. My own personal opinion
"information processing" I mean what is that long before we approach the
might be termed "thinking.” Certainly totality of human intelligence in all its
most of the thinking we normally do ramifications, the parts of our thinking
falls into this category. machine will begin wearing out faster
than they can be replaced, the entropy
A machine learns by being fed of the system will increase faster than
information in the form of a code, and the human tenders can compensate
it can operate on this information to for. The device falls into practical
draw conclusions and arrive at impossibility, not because each
solutions which are both novel and operation by itself is impossible, but
inventive. What is not clear at the that the integrated operation is too
moment is whether machines with complex for an increasing entropy
artificial intelligence will be able to system to cope with.
generalize or philosophize. This
appears to be a different kind of Let me define the term ”cybernation”
intellectual exercise from information as the name which is given to our
processing, and one which we devising of electronic and other
understand so poorly at present that artifacts which have certain properties
little progress has been made even of living systems. These systems are
theoretically in this direction. negative feedback systems (that is, left
60
alone they will return to their facts is now done better by cybernetic
equilibrium) with built in purposes systems in routine function than man
and powers to fulfill the duties by himself. This raises some very real
prescribed in those purposes. questions about the value of man as an
individual in society.
We are already engaged in devising
cybernetic mechanisms that are The ancient religious doctrine of “be
capable of learning and advancing fruitful and multiply” comes into
their own systems in part by their own considerable question under the new
efforts. They can learn to play checkers environmental circumstances
and chess, at which they beat their produced by the sciences. Science has
human makers at the game. altered the restraints that have
operated in confining population size
They can explore the moon, and they by disease and starvation. And science
are on probes which are wandering has opened the door to possibly better
into the far reaches of outer space ways of genetic selection than those
doing our exploration for us. As a that have prevailed in the past.
matter of fact, they are much better
adapted to this work than humans. Man has been made conscious of his
own genetic process and is, so to
It is quite clear that we have the speak, asked to enter into the
technological capacity already to conscious devising of better ways of
develop cybernetic systems to carry on developing the genotype. The system
most of the work of supporting human of idenotopic information made
life as well as the life of the cybernetic possible first by the human genotype
systems themselves. has now come full circle and is
charged with at least some partial
This means, that within a relatively supervision of the advancement of the
few decades, it is theoretically possible genotype itself.
for us to put almost every one of us
out of our present jobs, replacing This is one of the great and radically
humans with a system of cybernetic new conditions which have emerged
mechanisms which could leave us so in the history of evolving life on earth
free from productive work of society in our time. The great concern of many
as to raise the very real question of the people arises from our inability to
value of our existence. predict the results of our tampering
with the evolutionary process which
As a matter of fact, we are already has produced us. The whole reason
well on our way to doing this in the that the evolutionary process was
area which used to be a human successful in the past was that the
function, namely, our memory, which unfit did not survive.
is very much better done by a
computer. Also man's correlation of
61
We are becoming more and more could modify the distribution at the
successful at changing this pattern, high end by 100%. Furthermore, there
and as we do so more and more is every reason to suppose that various
geneticists are raising the question other characteristics of individuals,
whether the human race may not have such as their tendency toward
serious problems due to stopping the adjustments, both psychological and
process of purifying the genes which emotional, have determinants of a
have taken millions and millions of genetic nature. As you are all aware,
years in the evolutionary control to we know enough now so that we
perfect. This actually lends urgency to could, by artificial insemination,
the realization that the intellectual produce a genetically "superior”
progress which has removed one group of people which would improve
control must now face the vital the species.
problem of discovering or inventing
some other kind of heredity control. The deep freeze of human sperm has
been demonstrated to be a workable
Let me illustrate by an example. There scheme in which the sperm can be
is good evidence that the intelligence kept, as far as our experimental
of mankind is genetically determined evidence is now, forever. One can
within certain broad limits; the so imagine a sperm bank collecting
called "IQ” can be modified and varied sperm from particularly desirable
by conditioning up to a certain point, men, and these could make their genes
but only within limits which are fairly available for guiding the evolutionary
well known. Most of the progress of process of future man, breeding
mankind is due to exceptional attributes which society recognizes as
individuals who are exceedingly able being good. This is practical; this has
in various fields. been tried in limited ways and we
know it works. Man is now made
There are relatively few people with aware that he is responsible for the
an IQ of 160 or over, and many of genetic health and conditions of his
these people have been those that have descendants, and this presents an
made great contributions to society. It ethical problem of great magnitude.
is a statistical fact that if we could
increase the IQ of the population at It is clear that few parents would want
large by 1.5% (that is, instead of to procreate if they knew in advance
having the average IQ be 100, we that there was a high probability that a
could arrange to have the average IQ large fraction of their children would
at 101.5) we would thereby double the be either badly distorted or deficient
number of people whose IQs are over in body and mind. But the solutions of
160. This is a remarkable fact. this problem are not as simple and
obvious as many people have
By shifting the peak of our intelligence suggested. Many genes that may give
distribution curve ever so little, we rise to regrettable deficiencies at the
62
same time may be responsible in other cultures of Greece and Rome came
combinations for highly desirable into flower with the world population
advantages. much less than that in the United
States at the present time.
The problem is not only that of
quality, but perhaps even more This raises the question of how many
pressing at the present time is the people we need for great advances in
problem of quantity. Here the problem the genotype and the idenotype with
is not so much the already understood new understanding of the problem of
problem of overpopulation, brought how to manage them. It may be that
about by the scientifically produced even a smaller population is necessary
reduction in death rate without a now to produce all the variations
corresponding reduction in the birth needed for an optimum genotype and
rate. Here the fear is that the ceiling on idenotype society.
the energy sources available on earth
will hit the population boom in the Besides the problem of food and other
head as the number of heads hits the energy supplies per capita, we must
ceiling, causing tragic problems of really consider the problem of how
starvation and social disorder. much living space on the surface of the
earth per capita is optimal for man.
But this ceiling is one that has been on With the advances in cybernetics
all populations in the past. Often these making the need for large numbers of
populations have adapted in the past people less important, it seems to me
by letting starvation keep the that the central question is: "What is
population within bounds of the the optimal size for the advancement
energy supplies. So this is really not a of human life?" Conceivably it could
new threat. It might be mentioned that be much lower than our present world
some human societies, as well as population.
societies of animals, have either
through rules established in their In any case the problem of the human
idenotype or their genotype, limited values of both the genotype and
the size of the population before idenotype are obviously tied both to
arriving at the threshold where the absolute numbers of population
starvation becomes the control to keep size and to what we do in our
the size down. advertent or inadvertant roles in
seeking our own genotype and
However, there is a much more idenotype.
serious and as yet not understood
problem and it is a consideration We have been raised up to a new level
which very few people have taken of responsibility for conscious
seriously—it is the question: "What is participation in our own natural
the optimal population size for man?” selection. This is a task, indeed, on
For example, the marvelous human which the theologians must stay in
63
close contact with the sciences for a The next step, and this has not yet
realistic view of modern and future been started, is to develop a religious
man. activity which is based on the theology
and made viable in modern cultural
This brings me now to the place, terms.
essentially, where I began this
seminar. I began it essentially with a The third step is a State administering
definition of theology, and it is religious policy in tune with the
theology that I have been trying to modern theology.
discuss all this time. Theology, you
will remember, is the theoretical There is a very interesting article in the
structure upon which such things as November 19, 1966, issue of
religion are built. We keep talking The Saturday Review written by
about religion when we want to be Emmanual Mesthene entitled “What
practical, when we want to apply the Modern Science Offers the Church.”
theory to the practice of society. Let me quote from it:
Religion is the place where policy for “Religion is in crisis today because
society is formed. The State (the it has largely lost its old role, and
political organization which is the has yet to find a new one. After 20
basis for civil government) is the centuries of doing man's work, the
administrative structure which sets the churches are now having to learn
behavior of mankind into an orderly to do God’s. In the era just before
array. However, you cannot develop a Christ, man gave up the hope of
religion without a theology upon bliss in this world, saw values only
which it is based, and it is the theology in the next, and attributed power
which must be firmly based on our only to God. They left their work
modern scientific knowledge if it is to undone.
be able to cope with the problems of
mankind, both at present and in the “The churches, if only by default at
future. first, sought to fill the void and do
men's work for them...their
It takes three steps. First, you have to knowing, their building. their
develop the theology. My own feeling ruling, and their moral judging.
is that the scientific theology has been Opinions differ and disputes have
developed, it has developed in the raged about how well or how ill
scientific culture of modern man. It is they did, but there was never a
very little understood, but I think the question of their relevance to
basic concepts have been illuminated man’s concern—for it was men’s
and we can base our current thinking concern that they made their own.
on a theology based on modern
science. “The Churches were doing men’s
work. Man’s renewed confidence
64
in himself means that he takes up
his own burden once again. That is “The crisis of the church is in the
what is really new about our age. It fear of irrelevance borne of man's
means that the churches are out of new confidence in the power of his
men’s work because man now tools. It is an agonizing crisis
chooses to do his own and has the because there is nothing so dead as
knowledge and skill and the will to irrelevance which leaves not even a
do it. It is idle to tell him he cannot memory.”
because he is ignorant, or weak, or
a sinner—he just will not listen. You will find that many people are
turning to this theme of man’s concern
“Are the churches also completely with his own future, guided by some
out of work? They have served basic principle which must be, in my
throughout their history as man’s opinion, based on a theology which is
crutch. Is their history at an end in tune with our knowledge.
now that man can walk again?
These are the questions, if I see The reason the problem is serious is
clearly, that animate the present because there are many things which
theological debate and lead to the we now tend to do which basically are
religious restlessness that we out of tune with what is dictated by
observe. the state.
“They moved the German Let me illustrate just a few of them to
theologian, Bonhoeffer, to plead point out the kinds of problems which
that man has come of age and must modern society in its formal structure
be recognized as having done so. disapproves of, and yet the theology
They led the English R. A. of science says a new light should
Buchanan to note that it takes men, certainly be shone on these problems.
not sheep, to change the world and
warns that Take the case of selective breeding and
artificial insemination—these could
‘if the clergy are going to treat clearly be advantageous. We do this
their parishioners like sheep for dogs, we do it for cattle, but we do
they need not be surprised if not do it for people—it is quite illegal!
their number of parishioners We cannot now direct our genotypic
continues to decline.' evolution under any laws which
modern civilized man is operating
“It is the same questions and under.
worry they express that lead our
clergymen to Alabama, our Another example is the problem of
theologians to shock us into euthanasia and the prolonging of the
thought by announcing that ‘God life of the dying. In fact, the whole
is dead.’ attitude concerning death is one which
65
is not in tune with the theology based This is the danger that a religion based
on science which I have been trying to on a theology in tune with scientific
describe to you. knowledge will not develop soon
enough to guide man's future
Another very typical case of the way development in the direction we
things are out of tune with our would define as good.
understanding is the concept of asocial
behavior and the treatment of I do believe that eventually it will
criminals. come, the evolutionary process seems
to be statistically valid even in this
It has been known for a long time that kind of a development.
asocial sexual behavior can result from
abnormal prenatal hormone activity, But I hope that people can see the
and yet when an individual is problems clearly enough to start this
apprehended for asocial sexual development toward an understand
behavior it is the police that are ing of the operation of society based
called, not the doctor. The man is sent on its knowledge of the world about it
to jail, not to hospital. quickly, and as soon as possible—a
religion based on this new theology
The law assumes that his behavior is a will truly help us find our place in the
result of miseducation, and yet science universe, will truly help us find valid
can show in many cases it is a result of goals for ourselves and our society
unbalance of his gonadal hormones. within the framework of the natural
forces that control our destiny.
For over 100 years we have been very
sure as scientists that the Negro is as
good a Homo Sapiens as any white.
Yet we are only just beginning, from
the point of view of the state, to even
recognize it. It probably will take some
generations before people really
believe it.
There is a danger that the political
structure of society may dictate a
policy based on modern technology
which will take into its hands these
kinds of things, do selective breeding,
do all the various other things I have
suggested can now be done, in a way
which we as individuals would not
think was advantageous.
66
o
67
VIII Glossary
Amplification the multiplication of all values, goals, duties, and hopes
the effectiveness of a function or for that life.
activity. A social chainreaction
with positive feedback. Good that which has survival value
in both biological and social
Church the establishment which evolution.
guides the religious enterprise.
Heisenberg uncertainty principle: One
Criteria of credibility acceptable tests cannot simultaneously specify both
of a given hypothesis to check its the location and the motion or a
agreement with the known facts body within certain very narrow
within the framework of limits.
contemporary knowledge.
Idene the element which structures
Cybernation man’s devising of man’s cultural heritage analogous
electronic and other artifacts, to the genes which structure our
which have certain properties of biological heritage,
living systems.
Idenotype the type of behavior that is
Death discontinuous increase of the controlled by idenes.
entropy of a body.
Life a selfreplicating, entropy
Entropy a quantitative measure of increasing system.
the disorder of a system — the
natural tendency of things to
Model an intellectual framework
approach the chaotic state.
constructed in agreement with the
accepted facts which provide a
Gene pool the sum total of all the
working hypotheses for
genetic material.
understanding and
implementation.
Genotype a type determined by the
genetic character common to a
Prayer revitalization activity of the
group, hence a group of organisms
individual.
of such a type.
God an image of a unitary system
Protoplasm the material which
which ordains all that was, is, and
contains the sperm cells.
is to be; omnipotent, omnipresent,
eternal, and infinite; creator and
Religion a revitalization movement
sustainer of life. And the source of
— that activity by which man
68
attempts to find his place in the
universe; tries to develop valid
goals for himself and his fellow
man within the framework of the
forces which control his destiny.
69
Science man’s search for the
organization of the universe.
Society that complex of
fundamentally cooperative
interactions or interrelations
which exist between and among o
the members of a group.
Soul that which persists and remains
in being even though the body
disintegrates.
State the political organization which
is the basis of civil government.
Theology a critical intellectual
attempt to construct a theoretical
system consistent with the beliefs
and practices of a religious
community.
Worship prayer carried on as, and
stimulated by, group activity
70