Monday, August 3, 2015

I, for one, do not believe that a sophisticated nervous system is required to produce thought. Most thoughts are unconscious. The unconscious mind has to be quite pervasive in nature. Instincts are thoughts as well. The idea of thought has to be broadened, or a new term invented that can include a broader definition of thought in the evolutionary process. Pre-conceptual ideas are found throughout nature. Intellectual concepts develop out of them. I like Whitehead’s term “prehensions,” which implies that inanimate matter has the ability to feel and combine, that is, incorporate the other into itself to become something different than it would be by itself. Philosophically, I think that evolution is driven by the urge to become more than an entity is by itself. This is done by combining into different states and compounds and is seen throughout time in the evolutionary cycle.

The universe does not care or plan. This is obvious from the randomness of events and the mass extinctions our world has undergone. People want to believe the universe cares, so they invent all these different ways to show how this could be. What makes nature advance is the natural urge to unite and be more than we are by ourselves. Always remember when asking such questions that the universe is billions of years old, and man and his ideas and beliefs are newcomers to the cosmos. Making nature and gods out to be like people is the cause of much false thinking,