In tackling the subject of evolution, and the formation of life, my object is not to impart knowledge but to draw conclusions from knowledge that most of us already possess or can easily discover, conclusions which are not normally drawn. I want to show that humanity's present nature and state is not inevitable and was not preordained by evolution; that our evolution was a means of producing intellect in human form, and that intellect is itself a means the achievement of whose ends requires a human nature and state very different from that which presently exists here on Earth.
It appears to be generally accepted, and has been made clear to me by Peter Russell (The Awakening Earth, publisher Routledge & Keegan Paul), that a Big Bang originated this universe, about fifteen billion years ago. Approximately one-hundredth of a second after this event nothing existed but pure energy at a temperature of 100,000,000,000degC. At that precise time there were none of the elementary particles of matter - electrons, protons, etc.- because nothing of that sort can exist at such high temperatures. The terms here used to describe time, heat and the character of matter are those invented by humanity as relevant to our particular experience of the subsequent universe.
The foregoing information is part of current scientific theory. It is acceptable not only because it is the result of advanced scientific thinking based on long research but also because it is reasonable. In the search for the true meaning and purpose of life, without the benefit of modern scientific research, humanity has resorted to the imagination and supported its chosen beliefs with contrived reason. While these beliefs could not be proven, neither could they be disproved. Now that we have well-founded theories about the creation and evolution of life, a major obstacle has been cleared from the way of reason towards truth.
It is necessary to comment on the meaning of truth. This word is hard to define because we presently use it to mean many different things. Those meanings that I ascribe to it are given in Part III, Chapter 13 and Part V, Chapter 32. In the meantime I suggest that you keep an open mind as to the significance of this word.
Humanity's search for truth has been concentrated very much more on the discovery of scientific fact than on reasoning with the knowledge we already have. Consequently we are on the verge of total scientific understanding, yet wallowing in increasing social chaos because we do not understand ourselves or our reality. The relevance of our ability to describe the creation of this universe to within one-hunredth of a second of the Big Bang (even though we do not know what occurred before that precise time), and its subsequent history, is that it should eradicate all previous fanciful explanations of the creation of ourselves and our world, and bring us, so to speak, down to earth. But this is not the case. We still prefer searching for answers to finding them. Automated man worships science. Scientists have travelled far along the road of knowledge but have missed the way of true reason, and seem to be raising up other fantasies to pose as human truth.
The significance of our relationship with the universe, and the meaning and purpose of life, is fully explored in Part V, Part VI, Chapter 36 and Part VI, Chapter 37. Right now I think it useful to point out that however mysterious things seem when partially hidden from our understanding, when fully exposed they are revealed as matter-of-fact. It is reasonable to deduce that any thing, once it is fully explained, shall take its logical place in the train of causes and effects of all things. This applies to abstracts as well as to actual things. No material thing except pure energy could survive the Big Bang, but abstracts could survive it, parts of the truth in which, as I believe and shall suggest later, all ultimate meaning is to be found. To fulfil truth is the purpose underlying all the matter-of-fact processes of the universe. Our present concern - evolution - we can reasonably presume to be the result of another abstract, which not only survived the Big Bang but caused it to occur rather than allow energy to cancel itself out. This is the influence, to express energy in all conceivable ways, which has resulted in the existing universe. It has ultimately produced human life, not as an end in itself but as a means to an end. And humanity does not need to make yet more new discoveries to learn the essential truth. That truth is not mysterious and unknowable. All that we need to know is already knowable. We have but to open our minds to optimum reason.
To continue with generally accepted scientific theory, three minutes after the Big Bang the temperature of the rapidly expanding universe was 900,000,000degC, and neutrons and protons began combining to form stable atomic nuclei. About 700,000 years later the temperature had dropped to about 4000degC, and electrons and nuclei were combining to form simple, stable atoms, mostly hydrogen and helium. Below 4000degC gravitation draws atoms together, and the more they group together the more gravitational pull they exert. This process, continuing for some thousands of millions of years, eventually produced huge clouds of hydrogen and helium gas, whose internal condensation formed stars. During this time the universe had become very cold overall, but collapsing stars generated such heat that some of them exploded. Within these supernovae new and heavier elements of matter were formed and spread throughout the universe. Eventually much of this matter condensed into new stars, some of which exploded in turn. In this way all the stars, suns and planets were formed, including Earth and everything on Earth, and including our sun, a mass of hydrogen burning at 4000degC, and giving off the necessary energy to sustain our life.
It was once thought that the creation of life was a supernatural event; then that the conditions in which it could occur were very rare. Now it appears that the vital components are easily made and put together, given the right physical and chemical conditions, and that all kinds of suitable conditions are, or were, to be found. Our planet Earth came into being about 4500 million years ago, and the seas which soon formed did provide such suitable conditions for molecules to combine into macromolecules which in turn, about 1000 million years later, combined into simple cells.
It is not the aim of this book to retail the evolution of life in detail so much as to explore its significance in relation to the development of intelligence. Significant factors are that there seems to be a strong universal intention to create life; that there appears, at least on Earth, a planetary determination to progress and protect life; and that the progress of life inevitably brings about the advance of intelligence. To me, this suggests a purpose; not the purpose of a supreme power (which would hardly need to be so dependent on physics, or expected to have to wait so long for results), but the purpose of a weak force which can be achieved only with the help of intelligence. This question also is pursued further in Part V,Part VI, Chapter 36 and Part VI, Chapter 37.
The biosphere's determination to progress and protect life is suggested by James Lovelock in his book GAIA (Oxford University Press), and is also dealt with by Russell. To begin with our atmosphere was probably methane, and the early simple cells were bacteria and algae. These cells lived by photosynthesis, producing oxygen as a by-product. Oxygen was poisonous to these bacteria and algae, then the only representatives of life on Earth's crust, but for a long time it was absorbed by the oxidising of minerals such as iron, thus keeping these organisms safe. Eventually, when all the available minerals were oxidised, life was threatened with extinction, not only from poisoning by the rising amount of oxygen in the atmosphere, but also from destruction by ultra-violet light, which had previously been vital to the creation of life. However, the extra oxygen rose to the upper atmosphere where it was converted into an ozone layer which shielded Earth from much of the ultra-violet light. By the time oxygen had accumulated in the lower atmosphere, some bacteria had developed which could tolerate it. Certain of these bacteria continued to use photosynthesis and became plants. Others developed the ability to use oxygen, giving them such effective flexibility that they went on to become animals.
Such events could be said to be a matter of chance, but Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis suggests that the biosphere of Earth is a self-regulating entity with the capacity to keep the planet healthy by controlling the chemical and physical environment. Also that the physical and chemical condition of the surface of the Earth, of the atmosphere, and of the oceans has been and continues to be made fit for life by the presence of life itself. This might be regarded as a fantastic notion, but surely it is no more remarkable than the development of human intellect.
The Gaia hypothesis is reinforced by ensuing events, explained in detail by James Lovelock, partly summarised very neatly by Peter Russell, and further summarised as follows. Throughout the history of life on Earth, the surface temperature of the planet has kept to an average between 15 and 35degC, despite drastic atmospheric changes and a 30% increase in heat from the sun. The level of salt in the oceans has remained consistently below 4%; if it had risen above 6%, even for a few minutes, life in the oceans would have ended. Ever since an oxygen atmosphere was established, the oxygen content has remained at a level of 21%; a few per cent less and many life-forms would be unable to survive (perhaps we would be unable to think, for example); a few per cent more and everything combustible would eventually burn. The presence of ammonia in the atmosphere is precisely regulated so as to keep a level of acidity in rain and soil which is optimum for life. The process of methylation recycles iodine, which is vital to the production of hormones that regulate the metabolic rate, and removes toxic substances such as mercury and arsenic from the local environment by converting them into gaseous forms. The ozone layer, already mentioned, shields us from annihilation by ultra-violet radiation.
The early development of life on planet Earth proceeded in this way: given a generally hospitable environment under the care and protection of Gaia, simple cells united with others to become sexually reproductive, further uniting to become viable organs, then complex organisms of internally co-operative multifunctional cells. As these organisms became more complex, so did the nervous systems required to facilitate their internal functions and external activities, also the central brain required to co-ordinate them. The forms these organisms took and the habits and characteristics they acquired were partly determined by their environment, and partly by the fact that they were in competition for the food supply.
Considering the elemental building blocks of life, when chemicals came together to form macromolecules, and chains and groups of these, Russell says 'what requires to be explained is why this occurred'. It seems to me that we also have to ask the questions - why did the simple cells not remain as they were, merely content to adjust their numbers to the food supply? Why does life progress? Why do life-forms compete; is it because a compulsion to progress brings them into competition, or because the presence of competition compels them to progress? Why is there evolution of any kind, and for what reason do individual life-forms maintain and reproduce themselves? Why does Gaia sustain the biosphere with such care? I give my answers to these questions in Parts V and VI.
We humans are presently fascinated by facts. They attract us because they simply have to be accepted, whereas whole reason is a struggle because it requires more than facts. The physics and chemistry of the universe, and life, is interesting but does not yield the answers to those questions just raised. Those answers shall be found at the very end of the most significant evolutionary development, the subject of the next chapter - the advance of intelligence.
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