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Book Review by Steven B. Kurtz |
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The
Spirit in the Gene Reg Morrison |
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Our
extraordinary usurpation of habitat, resources,
and waste sinks is one clear indicator of human success as a life form
on earth according to the author of this great book. (1999, Cornell
University Press) Morrison explores various attributes of humans,
compares them with those of other life forms, and analyses current
theories of evolutionary development on earth. He makes a strong case
that our massive brainpower, linguistic abilities, and self-reflective
consciousness are complemented to a great degree by an ingrained
tendency to believe in mystical or supernatural phenomena. This includes
our boundless faith in human potential, and our social cohesiveness centered on family, tribe, and
culture. It seems as if there is a dominant genie at work encompassing
our creativity, perseverance, and fulfillment. "Compared
to other primates we were seriously under endowed except in one respect
- our brain. But the close collaboration that eventually developed
between human language and our so-called spirituality not only
compensated for our physical shortcomings but also became an
evolutionary asset...that would turn this disinherited, endangered
primate into a superior survivor...that would one day manage to meddle
with the evolutionary process itself." (p. 257) According
to Morrison, we share with all mammals the living of a "double
life." Sensory experiences and a "complex pastiche of
memories, fears, and expectations" make up what he calls "an
invisible landscape." Phenomenologists, a school of philosophy
including Edmund Husserl and M. Merleau-Ponty, examined experienced
reality as a composite abstraction reported from experiences.
The process is rather like detailed introspection, and is of
course language dependent. Morrison believes that most of our important
decisions (one could argue all) occur in the inner landscape, connected
by our animal instincts and perceptions to the world.
This is
not mind-body dualism in the traditional sense. It is the belief that
subjectivity and hard wiring jointly play a dominant role in human life.
Subject-object dualism is more to the point. Morrison adds that humans
err in believing that their decisions are mainly "cortical and
rational." Our communication, planning, and teamwork skills
combined with our instinct and emotional makeup made homo-erectus
"an imaginative, resourceful adventurer." Although
not a primary focus, the issue of free will versus determinism is woven
through the book: "Animals
cannot help but sing, dance, mate, and fight in obedience to their
genetically directed notions of territorial proprietorship and
sexuality. And we are no exception...All our literature, music, art,
drama, history, law, and legend has been wholly founded on our
genetically engineered misperceptions." (p.258) Nature,
of which we are a part, undergoes periods of lesser and greater change,
sometimes referred to as punctuated equilibrium. There are responses to
changes at all levels in earth's partially open planetary system. Solar
and other forms of radiation enter our atmosphere, as do asteroids
containing ice, minerals, and perhaps the basis for life itself.
Gravitational energy influences tides and is said to affect biological
cycles. Daylight periods and climate do not obey human commands. Human
freedoms are in reality constrained by
innumerable factors, and perhaps limited in scope. Yet, in life,
we can experience existential angst engendered by our perception of
freedom as overwhelming. I agree
with Morrison that uncertainty about the unknown, causal linkages, the
future, reciprocal love,
personal health and security, etc. combine with the human emotional
makeup to engender a 'value endowment' by us of extraordinary,
supernatural qualities to aspects of our experience and imagination. The
highly valued and greatly feared attain this special status. Evolution
selected this behavior, as it is estimated that 80% or more humans
currently affirm a sphere of a supernatural. It must, therefore, have
served our forefathers well, or the trait would have become vestigial or
counterproductive and have been de-selected. Morrison claims that it
served (and serves) us too well. It has become our Achilles heel, and is
related to thinking with our loins - another naturally selected trait. The long
term upshot of this selection for "significance, spirituality, and
the supernatural" is, according to Morrison, the basis for our
coming decline if not demise. We wrote many religious and social codes;
one in particular commanded us to subdue nature and to multiply our
kind. We have been all too obedient in following our own rules; we are
the most successful mammal on earth. Biodiversity and habitat health,
prerequisites for human sustainability, are being undermined by our
success. Local civilizations have failed in the past from overexpansion,
but with globalization and interdependence we might all fail at once. Now that
I've spoiled your day, you might ask why this review is appearing in
Innovation Journal. Three reasons I offer are 1. the excellent analysis
of innovative success in a nearly empty, prehistoric human world, 2. the current challenge to override some of our (vestigial?)
hard wiring with new forms of innovation, and 3. Morrison sees artistic
creativity, aesthetic appreciation, love and lust, as dominated by the
mystical, emotional realm - perhaps innovation and problem solving
straddle the rational and the mystical. Whether
necessity, inspiration, the need for ego gratification, or other drivers
are key to the creative process, our hard wiring lurks as a
precondition. Human history is marked by countless innovative successes
from the wheel, through the harnessing of various energy sources,
shipbuilding, agricultural development, water and waste system
development, mechanization, medical technology, communication
technology, computers, etc. Mortality rates declined rapidly during the
past century, and life spans have greatly increased in many areas of the
globe. Now, in Morrison's and my view humans are challenged to somehow
innovate sustainable shrinkage. The information exists to optimize our
future; our hard wiring has so far provided massive interference to
successful implementation. Morrison
says he wouldn't want to live without the mystical aspects of life. But
he can't see the requisite rebalancing of our psyches occurring in time
to prevent a crash. Frankly, neither can I. But to all you innovators
out there, I shout a wake-up call. Here's the toughest challenge man has
ever faced. There is no greater calling if your genes are to perpetuate.
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