6.1. The process of Evolution
Evolution, Teilhard de Chardin has assured us, is not
complete; it is rebounding in the same process of 'curving back upon
itself'; but this time as an Evolution conscious of itself, thus giving
birth to a new stage of Noo genesis, which did not stop after the creation of
the Noosphere. Quite the contrary, by the very overpopulation of the Earth,
Noogenesis is progressing rapidly towards the future, right before our
very eyes.
Then how are we to recognize this progression, this new stage
of Noo genesis? Is there any hope for a real planetary consciousness in the
third millennium? Dare we hope for an age in which Matter will be put to
the service of the Mind rather than the exact opposite which occurs today?
If so, how does this change take place?
According to Teilhard de Chardin, this rebound of Evolution is
taking place by subtle mutations, from generation to generation along a
continuum, following the genetic phylum begun in the shadows of
the enormous Past of Mankind. It is visible to alert eyes in the small nuances
that one observes in each difference noticeable in the space of a few
generations. Let us take the phenomenon of Prolepsis, or the
difference in height between a given generation and its descendents. Let us
say, for example, that F2 is taller than FI. This phenomenon has already been
observed by science for several decades and is becoming more frequent. Noticed
before only in the peoples of northern Europe, this phenomenon is evident today
in peoples of the entire world, without distinction of race or color.
Parallel to this mutation, there is an increasing difference
in the Intellectual Quotient of younger generations; one can easily observe a
noticeable difference in favor of the F2 generation. That proves, recalling the
Law of Complexity-Consciousness that rules Evolution and keeping in mind the
development of the structures of the brain, that this is a question of a
movement of Cerebralization. This is a cerebral complexification, as
physical as it is psychic: physical, given the specialization of the neurons
with the augmentation of nerve fibers necessary in order to occupy more
space
in a physical body of greater height and a more complex brain;
and psychic, in relation to the behavior of Man, who, following the principle
law, is becoming more conscious of himself and seeking more and more
Individuation through an inner convergence in harmony with the
evolutionary directive.
In The Phenomenon of Man, Teilhard de Chardin talks
about pre-life, life, and the Omega Point. According to him the pre-life is
what we call matter. In calling it 'pre-life', he wants to imply that there is
already a direction, a tendency, an obscure sort of will in matter.
He distinguishes three things in matter: plurality,
by virtue of which the substratum of the tangible Universe slopes down towards
a limitless base, disintegrating as it goes. Secondly Unity, which
pushes the elements towards each other so as to comprehend them together in one
great whole, the Universe and finally Energy, or capacity for
interaction. The immediate consequence of this is that the world forms a system
by its plurality, a Totum by its energy.
What is new here is that we can see matter under the twin
categories of duration and of evolution, instead of fixity and geometry. The
whole universe in fact, is found to be engaged in an immense evolution.
Teilhard de Chardin recalls at this point that two principal laws rule matter:
that of the conservation of energy and that of the degradation of energy. The
more the quantum of energy in the world functions, the more it gets used up.
This is the fundamental phenomenon of the world which necessarily leads to the
"Phenomenon of Man".
Nevertheless, when examining man's behaviour today, we have to
scrutinize his deeper motivations and not get lost in needlessly detailed
considerations of his physical structure, however perfected, which seems to
crown Evolution. Rather, in order that this human phenomenon may have a sense,
we have to suppose another dynamic structure in Man: his Mind or Soul; which
would seem to have no discernable "dwelling place" in all these specialized
cerebral ramifications; but which is going to orient his
124 psychic behaviour from this time forward towards greater
spiritual development in order to prepare for the coming age. Teilhard de
Chardin firmly believed that
(...) the march of Humanity, as a prolongation of that of
all other animate forms, develops indubitably in the direction of a conquest of
Matter put to the service of the Mind. ...Thought might artificially perfect
the thinking instrument itself; life might rebound forward under the collective
effect of its Reflection.'
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