The Spirit in Human Evolution - Waldorf Research Institute

theories; one that supports itself hermeneutically and is, in other words, a self-contained
system requiring no external support. He uses the image of a crane that, firmly standing
on the ground of reality, lifts its building materials step by step towards the highest point
using its own structural resources. One can also observe that cranes can be built into the
structure of skyscrapers so we can extend the metaphor and describe cranes lifting both
themselves and their materials, thus providing us with a metaphor for self-building
systems. The other kind of theory requires what in theatrical terms is known as a deus ex
machina, or what Dennett so vividly refers to as a skyhook to raise itself up. The image
is compelling. It is clear that any approach that seeks to offer an alternative to the modern
mechanistic, materialist worldview may use no skyhooks. That is the challenge as I see it.
Each individual, each people, each culture, each historical period finds answers
or at least formulates questions that relate to the mysteries of life and human nature.
Much of human cultural endeavour has been a searching to understand humankind’s
place within creation. Art, religion and science are also expressions of this quest for
answers. Social and political structures reflect such worldviews. The self-identity of any
society, however unconsciously expressed or deliberately articulated, requires implicit
or explicit answers to the questions of origins and the nature of humanity. For most of
history, this has taken the form of myth, ritual, the construction of shrines, temples and
all manner of sacred sites, as well as religion and philosophy. It goes without saying that
all such answers would have to be judged as provisional.
All attempts to articulate the mysteries of life center on the relationship of the
human being to the rest of creation. This also means understanding the creative forces
at work both within the world and within the human soul. The religions of earlier ages
found meaning in this relationship and expressed this in the images we are familiar
with from mythology. No doubt each culture also found much that was inexplicable,
even unknowable. Yet even what was beyond human comprehension was assumed to
have meaning. Until the dawning of the scientific age, the whole of creation was imbued
with meaning for the basic reason that the idea of an immanent, purposeful creator was
implicit in the concept of creation. Life and all its manifestations great and small were
experienced as an integrated, meaningful whole because it was the creation of a higher
being or beings.
This certainty has faded with the rise of scientific thought. It did not happen
overnight or even in a generation, but over centuries. It is a process that is still going on.
The scope of classical Greek philosophy shows that some individuals had their doubts
long before the rest of humanity. Conversely many people still have faith in some form
of higher meaning. Let us not forget the twenty-three percent of modern Americans
who believe in a creationist origin of the world. 12 And there are many others who are not
Southern Baptists or creationists, who also believe in some non- materialistic meaning
in the world. However, I hazard a guess that the vast majority of intellectuals today, if
pressed, would probably sign up to a materialistic conception of the universe in some
form or other.
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12
The results of National Opinion Research Centre poll quoted in Wilson, E.O., 1998, p142.
Dennett, 1995, p516, puts the figure at 48% and reports that 70% believe that creation science
should be taught in school alongside evolution. Michael J. Behe, in Darwin’s Black Box, 1998,
p239, reports a survey that shows that 90% of Americans believe in God.
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