Friends who know my personal commitment to a Jewish view of life are often surprised when I tell that them " a French Jesuit is one of my gurus". It's true.
My encounter with Pierre Teilhard de Chardin began about 35 years ago when I found his book "The Phenomenon of Man" . Teilhard was not only a French Jesuit but also a renowned paleontologist.
In it, he outlines his core belief - that we are entering the third stage of evolution, namely that of knowledge (noogenesis). The first two were geological (geogenesis) and biological (biogenesis).
I thought of Teilhard this morning as I read an excellent article in Minyanville by John Maudlin. His article is written in light of the current financial crisis. In it he discusses a vision which he calls "Millennium Change". It's rather long but a must read for anyone looking for perspective beyond today's short-term crisis.
In "The Phenomenon of Man", Teilhard set forth a sweeping account of the unfolding of the cosmos.
He proposed a vision of the Universe and of Mankind based on his experience and scientific reflections, which becomes coherent in the light of the overall phenomenon of Evolution."Biological evolution is over, Knowledge evolution has just begun." is my short summary.
In particular Teilhard foresaw the scientific revolution leading to the day when "men everywhere could interact directly". Some call him the "prophet of the Internet"
It is one of the more satisfying visions of the meaning of human experience in the context of current knowledge. It in no way contradicts anything in my Jewish understanding of the role of man.
Apart from his philosophy, Teilhard's life story is fascinating, from his expedition to China where he managed to participate in the uncovering of the fossils of "Peking Man" to his refusal to surrender to the Vatican on his right to criticize dogma.
Here is a link to a good article "Teilhard de Chardin and the Noosphere". Here are some excerpts
- Teilhard maintains "....... that evolution has a direction, an "Ariadne's Thread" as he calls it. That "thread" is the increasing complexity of living beings.."
- "We are, at this very moment, passing through a change of age. Beneath a change of age lies a change of thought." (1961, p. 214, 215)
- "Time and space are organically joined again so as to weave, together, the stuff of the universe." (p. 218) "
- "Is evolution a theory, a system or a hypothesis? It is much more: it is a general condition to which all theories, all hypotheses, as systems must bow and which they must satisfy henceforth if they are to be thinkable and true. Evolution is a light illuminating all facts, a curve that all lines must follow." (1961, p. 219) (the italics are mine).
- "Man discovers that he is nothing else than evolution become conscious of itself. The consciousness of each of us is evolution looking at itself and reflecting upon itself." (p. 221)
Since reading the book so many years ago, my own knowledgehas been evolving. In recent years I re-read it. It is as pertinent today as it was then. If anything I am able to better appreciate his brilliance in the light of my own life experiences.
In will always be grateful to Teilhard for opening the way to another view of the meaning of life.
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