February has been a hectic month, hence the lack of activity on this blog, but as the calendar prepares to turn over once more I've noticed that I have made 99 postings since the blog started. It is very satisfying to look back at all the information and ideas that have been collected together since its inception concerning this important topic.
A big thanks go to those who read it and chip in with occasional comments. I'm acutely aware that a lot of what I write is simply someone else's ideas re-articulated, so, to everyone I talk to or whose books I read, as they say in Yorkshire, "Ta!"
Saturday, 26 February 2011
Saturday, 5 February 2011
Moral Development
An interesting idea to think about is that of moral development. The general thesis is that human society and civilisation has developed morally over time. Take as an example the slave trade. Historically the slave trade has been a normal part of society but now, in the western world at least, it has been abolished.
We are not talking about individual moral development here, in fact you could make a good argument that individual morality is in decline, but this is about society in general. The concept is relevant to thinking about anthropology from a spiritual point of view.
The differences between Old Testament and New Testament ethics have often been remarked upon, to the point where some have even suggested that the God of the Old Testament is different to the God of the New.
This is where the suggestion of moral development comes in. God remains the same, his principles never change, but their outworking depends on the level of development of the people. This is exactly the same phenomenon that we see in parents all over the world. A parent may want to instil in their child the principles of kindness. When dealing with a toddler they might utilise the 'naughty step' to help the child consider when their actions have fallen short of the mark. Yet for teenage children this technique is likely to be ineffective. A reasoned discussion is probably more appropriate for them (though you could try putting them on the step afterwards as a last resort!) Loud and vocal anger is another good way of telling infants of the seriousness of their wrongdoing, but it is rarely as effective with older children.
If we imagine human society as an individual going through childhood and towards maturity then we can begin to understand why God seems different over time. The Mosaic Law came at a time where the people had no formal justice system, but things are very different now. Most countries have very sophisticated systems in place to keep law and order – society has developed. This development is more acutely apparent when we consider early man as the product millions of years of competition and communities of humans thrust together under the principles of survival of the fittest. The baseline of moral man is pretty low. Yet slowly, and surely, God has led humanity to the point where 'at just the right time' Christ came into the world. Human civilisation was finally ready to meet Immanuel.
An interesting question to ask is why individual morality hasn't developed in the same way as society has?
We are not talking about individual moral development here, in fact you could make a good argument that individual morality is in decline, but this is about society in general. The concept is relevant to thinking about anthropology from a spiritual point of view.
The differences between Old Testament and New Testament ethics have often been remarked upon, to the point where some have even suggested that the God of the Old Testament is different to the God of the New.
This is where the suggestion of moral development comes in. God remains the same, his principles never change, but their outworking depends on the level of development of the people. This is exactly the same phenomenon that we see in parents all over the world. A parent may want to instil in their child the principles of kindness. When dealing with a toddler they might utilise the 'naughty step' to help the child consider when their actions have fallen short of the mark. Yet for teenage children this technique is likely to be ineffective. A reasoned discussion is probably more appropriate for them (though you could try putting them on the step afterwards as a last resort!) Loud and vocal anger is another good way of telling infants of the seriousness of their wrongdoing, but it is rarely as effective with older children.
If we imagine human society as an individual going through childhood and towards maturity then we can begin to understand why God seems different over time. The Mosaic Law came at a time where the people had no formal justice system, but things are very different now. Most countries have very sophisticated systems in place to keep law and order – society has developed. This development is more acutely apparent when we consider early man as the product millions of years of competition and communities of humans thrust together under the principles of survival of the fittest. The baseline of moral man is pretty low. Yet slowly, and surely, God has led humanity to the point where 'at just the right time' Christ came into the world. Human civilisation was finally ready to meet Immanuel.
An interesting question to ask is why individual morality hasn't developed in the same way as society has?
Saturday, 22 January 2011
Do Bluetits Remember?
We have seen four springs living in our current house and 2010 was the first without Bluetits nesting in the box hanging from the brickwork. There is a sense of anticipation each year as the winter thaws and we wait expectantly. The endeavors of these tiny birds, and they do get tinier as the endeavor takes its toll, never fail to amaze us. Yet this year we were left disappointed.
Could it be that our regular family have sworn never to return? 2009 was a harrowing year.
There was one little fledgling that didn't make it. Perhaps it was the runt of the litter, perhaps it was genetically predestined not to make it, but when this baby Bluetit emerged from the security of its wooden cradle its first flight ended up on the hard floor of our patio. The plight was softened by the frantic fluttering of its wings, but once down there was no way of getting back up. Its only hope was to hide. It hid behind our plant-pots and it hid behind overhanging shrubs but by far the best place it found was between the folds of our deflated paddling pool. It stayed there for two days and nights yet encouragingly its parents refused to abandon it. They still nursed it, collected grubs for it, sang for it and waited upon it. We watched on, hoping that all this care would give it the strength to fly off one day.
That time came on the third day and it boldly hopped out of its hiding place...
... only for our neighbour's cat to hop out from behind the bushes and swallow it down whole.
The shrieks that went up in our household were enough to send the moggy scampering but the damage was already done. All that was we could do was watch the heartbreaking sight of the fledgling's parents singing for their child, searching for it in all the usual hiding places, staring in bemusement.
Nature red in tooth and claw.
Could it be that our regular family have sworn never to return? 2009 was a harrowing year.
There was one little fledgling that didn't make it. Perhaps it was the runt of the litter, perhaps it was genetically predestined not to make it, but when this baby Bluetit emerged from the security of its wooden cradle its first flight ended up on the hard floor of our patio. The plight was softened by the frantic fluttering of its wings, but once down there was no way of getting back up. Its only hope was to hide. It hid behind our plant-pots and it hid behind overhanging shrubs but by far the best place it found was between the folds of our deflated paddling pool. It stayed there for two days and nights yet encouragingly its parents refused to abandon it. They still nursed it, collected grubs for it, sang for it and waited upon it. We watched on, hoping that all this care would give it the strength to fly off one day.
That time came on the third day and it boldly hopped out of its hiding place...
... only for our neighbour's cat to hop out from behind the bushes and swallow it down whole.
The shrieks that went up in our household were enough to send the moggy scampering but the damage was already done. All that was we could do was watch the heartbreaking sight of the fledgling's parents singing for their child, searching for it in all the usual hiding places, staring in bemusement.
Nature red in tooth and claw.
Saturday, 15 January 2011
An improbable bang
The Big Bang defies probability. How could an accident produce something so ordered? Roger Penrose tells us just how unlikely it is that we should have a universe that is compatible with the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics
Its important to say that Penrose's use of 'Creator' here is not in any theistic sense.
This now tells us how precise the Creator's aim must have been: namely to an accuracy of
one part in 10 to the power of 1230.
This is an extraordinary figure. One could not possibly even write the number down in full. Even if we were to write a "0" on each separate proton and each separate neutron in the entire universe - and we could throw in all the other particles as well for good measure - we should fall far short of writing down the figure needed.
Its important to say that Penrose's use of 'Creator' here is not in any theistic sense.
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
Walking the Planck
Max Planck, a German physicist who died in 1947, is regarded as one of the fathers of Quantum Theory – the branch of physics which deals with the tiniest packets of matter that have a kind of dual personality, behaving like both a wave and a particle. Its an intriguing world where nothing is certain and some things are impossible to measure.
Bearing his name is the concept of the 'Planck length'. This minute distance is the length at which we enter the quantum world and therefore is the smallest measure of length that actually means anything. Below this distance space, time, gravity and all of conventional physics dissolve away.
Following on from this is the 'Planck time'. This is the length of time it would take a photon of light to travel the 'Planck length' – and its 10 to the power of -43 seconds! In a similar way to the Planck Length any time less than this is effectively meaningless, for the reasons given above.
The Planck time has deep philosophical implications. It means that the Universe effectively 'began' at this age, this is actually when time began. It also means that we cannot be sure of anything that happened 'before'*. Therefore, any world view that depends on determining what might have occurred prior to the Plank Time is on very shaky ground.
* NB Even the word 'before' is inappropriate here. Its like asking whats south of the South Pole!
Bearing his name is the concept of the 'Planck length'. This minute distance is the length at which we enter the quantum world and therefore is the smallest measure of length that actually means anything. Below this distance space, time, gravity and all of conventional physics dissolve away.
Following on from this is the 'Planck time'. This is the length of time it would take a photon of light to travel the 'Planck length' – and its 10 to the power of -43 seconds! In a similar way to the Planck Length any time less than this is effectively meaningless, for the reasons given above.
The Planck time has deep philosophical implications. It means that the Universe effectively 'began' at this age, this is actually when time began. It also means that we cannot be sure of anything that happened 'before'*. Therefore, any world view that depends on determining what might have occurred prior to the Plank Time is on very shaky ground.
* NB Even the word 'before' is inappropriate here. Its like asking whats south of the South Pole!
Saturday, 8 January 2011
A 10 dimensional universe
Superstring theory calculates that the universe has ten dimensions. Very early on there was an amicable split. Four dimensions expanded and went on to produce the observable universe's space and time (3+1 dimensions). The other six shrivelled up so as to be invisible, although they still exist. As Dean Overman remarks in 'A case against accident and self-organization':
For the purpose of the formation of life, this split was fortunate, because carbon-based life could not exist in any other than three spatial dimensions. Gravity would not allow for stable planetary systems unless it functioned in three spatial dimensions because it follows an inverse square law which requires the force of gravity to decrease as distance increases. In four spatial dimensions, the force of gravity would fall to a fraction of one-eighth its power (rather than one quarter) for every doubling of distance, and in five spatial dimensions, the force would fall to one-sixteenth its strength for every doubling of distance. Moreover, in more than three spatial dimensions, the force of electromagnetism would not function in a manner which would allow for life, because electrons would either spiral away from or into the nuclei.
Wednesday, 5 January 2011
Lego DNA
The problems with trying to piece together a plausible mechanism for the origin of life multiply up. Its not just about thinking up possible scenarios where the various complicated molecules could be manufactured and thrown together. Scientists also have envisage a scheme that explains the origin of the whole system of genetic information with its unique language, replicating systems, translation devices.
This video provides a great animated version of what some of that entails. Looks like Lego DNA to me!
This video provides a great animated version of what some of that entails. Looks like Lego DNA to me!
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