Evolution – A Surprising Synthesis of Science and Spirit
Michael Meacher is a fascinating man. Many Britons know him as one of England’s longest serving Labour politicians, first elected to Parliament in 1970. They might also know he’s a strong advocate for environmental issues – introducing the first motion in Parliament that called for CO2 reductions – and an outspoken critic of genetically modified foods and the Iraq War (not to mention a champion of income equality and reduced consumption). But while his politics are unabashedly from the Left, his interests don’t end there. Meacher also has a passion for science and cosmology.
His 2010 book, The Destination of the Species: The Riddle of Human Existence, seeks answers to humankind’s most enduring questions: Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going? In his quest to answer these questions for himself, Meacher has spent years inquiring into the nature of human existence. It’s with this context in mind that he’ll be joined by EnlightenNext Magazine’s executive editor, Carter Phipps, at the Midsummer Renaissance festival in London, this July 30-31. Their thought-provoking dialogue, Evolution – A Surprising Synthesis of Science and Spirit, will explore the significance of evolution and the current convergence of Science and Spirit.
Below is an excerpt from Meacher’s book, where he describes his thoughtful inquiry into the nature of human existence:
The systematic review of all the scientific evidence strongly suggests that the Dawkins and neo-Darwinian view that the universe is driven by pitiless, directionless chance is seriously wrong and misleading. Rather the evidence indicates: astronomically precise fine-tuning in the construction of the universe; early life driven for billions of years by symbiotic and co-operative networking, not blindly by mutations; and the spontaneous transposition of matter and energy into new higher organizational states at certain thresholds of complexity both in biological and cosmological systems. All this, and so much else, suggests an utterly different, far more complex, much more meaningful picture. Instead of an analytic, reductionist and arbitrary model of the universe, it uncovers a dramatically different subjective, holistic and purposeful one.
The book is not parti pris, not written from the propagandistic viewpoint either of science or religion. It is written as a sceptical searching after how all the component parts of human experience fit together within a single indivisible reality, and what that totality means. Whether the issue is the origin and development of the universe, the origin and evolution of life forms on Earth, the absurdly unlikely but probably inevitable evolution of the human species, or the intellectual, cultural and spiritual uniqueness of humans, the survey of all the evidence repeatedly returns to the central question: what does all this mean?
To find out, come join us this weekend for the Midsummer Renaissance celebration. Hope we’ll see you there!
(To hear more about Michael Meacher and his book, Destination of the Species, check out the cool interview below. It’s a nice introduction to his work and reveals Meacher as a passionate man, beaming with interest in the “extraordinary, unbelievable wonder of the universe”.)
