Saturday, 31 January 2009
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I am depressed by Evolution.
The Theory implies that there’s no such thing as an essence, or nature of anything. Everything is in a constant state of flux, of change from one thing to another. And the change (described by the term “survival of the fittest”) is no picnic. In fact, I would even say that the sustenance of Evolution is death. Life continues to prove itself, in the words of our friend Hobbes, “nasty, brutish, and short.” While the things that Life produces are rather impressive, I see no beauty in the gears of Nature. This leads me to conclude that, despite the evidence, there is so much more appeal in Plato’s philosophy of essential forms; as though everything, from a mango tree to a monkey to a mountain, were a dim replica of its original form. This idea lines up well with the Christian myth of Creation; that God created forms in an ideal state which have since been corrupted through an ill-fated rebellion against their Creator. And we’re all left pining for the essence of what God originally designed: an unsullied figure, harmonious and beautiful, waking up to the fresh grandeur of a new world. Unfortunately I’m at a stage in life where scientific evidence speaks louder than holy conviction. And while evolutionary biologists and physicists are grasping at straws trying to explain the intricate mechanisms and causes of our cells and our universe, the current theory seems to be the best we’ve got. Which leaves me depressed.
But maybe God is in the inexplicable details of Evolution. Maybe there’s a higher beauty in brutish survival than I can appreciate. And maybe we are longing for an essence; not one that differentiates, but one that suggests a unifying theme throughout Creation. Regardless, for now I choose to see and worship God in the more palatable realms of the universe… a sunrise, a constellation, a cat purring in my lap.
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