Quote from: stephaniec on June 09, 2016, 05:24:59 PM
the thing is that consciousness went from the amoeba to Einstein. Why did this happen , why do we need that level of conscious thought, there is a definite progression from atoms bouncing around and in some sense being aware of where the electron is to an Einstein who's only purpose in a sense is to advance human knowledge towards greater consciousness , why , you can't put a plate of food on the table which was a creation of more advanced consciousness with the knowledge of the fundamental nature of the atom. Whats the point if it not to evolve and progress to towards an even greater consciousness which in turn the ultimate consciousness would be God.
You're asking why the world doesn't just contain the simplest possible forms of life, viruses, bacteria, mold etc.
Good question. But science can answer it.
Genes are the code required to create another organism. That code is merely chemical and change to that sequence of genes is entirely possible either through the sexual interaction of two simple organisms, random mutation/error during copying, or external natural influence such as radiation. The fact genes can experience mutation is not only what has given rise to the vast diversity of shapes and forms of life, but also the more mutation and shuffling of genes there is the better that life's chance of survival in a changeable environment. Complexity isn't just a phenomenon, it's a statistical inevitability when evolution and reproduction is the only means by which life manages to continue to cling to this pretty little space rock.
There's no purpose to complexity beyond the fact that it works currently in this environment, and anything that works is good from life's perspective, whether it is intelligent or whether it is mindless but prolific. If it didn't work, it would be dead, like the dinosaurs. If something happened tomorrow to change the climate such that it could no longer sustain complex organisms like us, life would once more reset to the lowest and most hardy form, like bacteria. We are not "safe" just because we are complex, and our genetic pattern is not assured of survival. But we have developed larger and larger brains over time because it benefited us in some way and helped us survive. Language for example, is something even many animals have - specific noises for specific meanings, warnings and ID calls. Language requires a certain sized brain to process. The more language benefits a species - and it does - the more the successful survivors use it, and those most successful are going to have been the ones with brains big enough to handle using it, and the more they are going to pass on the genes for larger and larger brain size over time, the more complex their language can become, the more knowledge they can accumulate and pass on with it and empower their species. In our case, we NEED our brains for survival - we've got to the stage where we aren't adaptable or fecund enough without the survival advantage it gives us. If we all reduced tomorrow to the mental capacity of bugs, our species wouldn't last a month because our genetic pattern long ago hedged all its bets on a big brain.
These concepts don't have to be at odds with the idea of god. For all I know god programmed the atomic numbers that enabled atoms, that enables molecules, that enabled proteins and DNA that enabled life to form itself out of the building blocks by slow, relentless selection. God apparently doesn't mind evolution because it's operating every moment of every day and observable in real time and human lifetime. But that also means - if god exists - that the lower and less intelligent forms of life are as essential and valuable as the likes of us, and also that god has watched whole human civilizations vanish from existence for want of a survival mechanism. If this is some selection process by which forms rise to intelligence to be closer to god, god certainly made sure that even the highest still depends absolutely upon the lowest, and that forms of life exist that do nothing but feed upon or parasitize others. If this is his method it is quite a random, painful and unforgiving one, isn't it.
