An update on Darwinism and the origin of species.

Last week we heard about the mechanisms going on inside the cells … at the molecular level … to produce new species. This week, Dr. Jeffrey Schloss tackles the same subject, but comes at it from more of a whole organism level.

We explore general themes like:

• agency in selection: the organisms themselves participating in their own evolution through gene swapping and living together
• niche construction: organisms changing the nature of their environment in order to better compete, survive, and reproduce (they direct the differential transmission of genes)
• symbiosis and cooperativity come up this week again, but this time also in the forms of cooperative mutualism, reciprocity, kin selection, group selection and even relinquishing autonomy and committing to obligate cooperativity
• purpose (telos): whether evolution can be simply goal-suited, or even goal-seeking. There’s a huge philosophical difference between the two.

Jeff talks about how all these things  — symbiosis, cooperativity, even love —”have all increased over phylogenetic history”. It seems that Nature is bending toward simply getting along: instead of a “struggle for survival”, there might be more to gain in a “snuggle for survival”. This resonates with the idea that Chris Barrigar got us started on: the universe being designed to produce beings capable of agape love.

Finally, we also get his perspective on four responses to these changes in thinking:

• evolutionists “circling the wagons” at the infamous Royal Society meeting that Dr. Shapiro mentioned last week;
• the evolutionists tolerating Steven Jay Gould’s quasi-tolerance of Creationists because “at least he’s still on our team”;
• the public losing trust in science and scientific expertise;
• Christians feeling that Evolution has put their faith on the rocks.

As always, tell us what you think …

To find more about Dr. Jeffrey Schloss, go to his webpages at Westmont or at Biologos or at the Faraday Institute.

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