Q&A: The World’s Suitability for Life
The World’s Suitability for Life
Question
I wanted to ask you something else.
Life was created together with, or out of, matter, which led me to think that the orientation of life is really an expression of the orientation of the universe. I also wanted to rely on astronomical phenomena that support this idea—that the orientation of the universe is in favor of life. I mean the fact that the cosmic system is arranged in a way that ensures the possibility of life on Earth, both in terms of climate and in terms of the paths of the stars and asteroids. My idea, in its precise formulation, is that there is a force in the universe that drives materials and living systems in a way that benefits the collective life of all species and races. One could also add that this orientation is directed toward realizing the vision of the human soul, of the various human souls, or of God, but that is harder for me to substantiate.
Do you know of any specific astronomical phenomena that could support this idea even more strongly? And in general, do you agree with this idea? Do you know of phenomena in biology that point to a development from concern only for that same system, to the creatures being born, to the whole pack, to the whole race, to the whole species, and ultimately to all species, when we see that human beings tend to feel compassion even toward other species (and in fact elephants and dolphins have also often been observed helping human beings).
a0
I didn’t get a chance to tell you, but I think the will of the soul is also the source of our judgment regarding what is moral or ideal. I base this on many cases that point to the independent existence of our consciousness. Stevenson (an American psychiatrist) conducted a long and careful study; among other things, he showed that it is hard to avoid the conclusion that human beings have had previous lives. Xenoglossy (fluent speech in a foreign language without being in an environment that speaks that language) and many successful treatments of illnesses and phobias—these are among the facts that support the hypothesis of previous lives.
Answer
Hello.
Your argument is the original anthropic argument (that of the author of Duties of the Heart): from the suitability of the world for life it is proven that there was a guiding hand that took care of this. And to this the atheistic anthropic argument responds by saying that if this were not the nature of the world, life would not have arisen. I discussed this at length in my book. Search online for the anthropic argument and I assume you will find a great deal of material. The fine-tuning of the constants of physics is an example of this argument (you can also find that online).
I did not understand what you were saying in the last paragraph.
Discussion on Answer
The book about evolution (God Plays Dice).
The question still remains whether moral behavior is a mechanical result of an internal structure (physical or mental), or a decision based on observing something outside.
Take for example the asteroid that struck Earth and apparently brought about the extinction of the dinosaurs.
It seems that if that asteroid had not hit Earth, there would be no human beings in the world. Think about the path that asteroid had to travel in order to hit Earth.
And that is only one event, out of millions of events, most of which we do not know about, without which intelligent human beings would not have come into existence.
– Which one of your books did you mean?
– In the last paragraph I meant to explain what the source of our judgment regarding morality and the ideal is. I think it is a sophisticated biological development directed toward collective life. But beyond that, since there are reasonable arguments in favor of the hypothesis of previous lives, we can conclude that our consciousness (our soul, or at any rate something that undergoes experiences) is not dependent on the body or on matter; it exists independently and merely dwells in the body, and sometimes, though without all the memories, it even passes into another body. Therefore, one can argue that the moral or normative judgments we make do not arise only from the biological system in which our consciousness resides.