In the nonlinear transfinite (Cantorian) transition from the planetary lithosphere to biosphere certain preconditions are necessary. (Whether we can determine whether they are also sufficient is a matter for scientific research.)
In the realm of the lithosphere we have the solar system's planets, as well as the recently discovered exoplanets. The simple fact of this discovery alone heralds why human progress via economic growth recapitulates such transitions referenced above.
We have so far identified a few critical preconditions for biological life as we know it. In this regard comparing the lithosphere of Mars and Earth is very profitable. For one, the free energy provided by the fuel of the element phosphorous appears to be critical. Especially given the fact that it is essential to the omnipresent biological engine of ATPase (adenosine triphosphatase.) Another is the provision of an oxygenated atmosphere. The recent discovery of Earth's volcanic crustal relationship would appear to be yet another precondition for life on Earth.
There is an overarching power in the potential of the unfolding of geochemical processes where from emerges a new ordering transfinite with respect to those very same processes. I would argue that that very power is more of an unfathomable mystery to mere logic than the much vaunted quantum mechanics paradox of "action at a distance." Now that power which moves from the inorganic to the organic then lastly to the human sphere may be characterized in terms of the dynamics of energetic transformations for performance of work.
At the astrophysical level we view forces of such magnitude that can create groups of galaxies out of mere clouds of gas. Therein lies a principle of cosmological ordering that spans billions of years and wields fantastic power which humanity is merely at the very dawn of comprehending let alone using for our species' benefit and we hope not our destruction. And yet, somehow among that universal creation of galactic star systems with their black holes and who knows what other as yet undiscovered forces, here on this planet a qualitatively higher order of life emerged. Such that there must be inherent an evolutionary directionality in the universal composition.
Likewise, the succession of species of cellular lifeforms led to higher ordered plant and animal domains. The new principle was the useful capture of elemental energy to sustain growth and reproduction. Yet the very success of this new living era upon Earth invariably led to a succession of energy and food crises. And the capability of overcoming such crises is only manifest in human creative consciousness. We alone can alter continuously our bases of useful energy via technological progress. Again, a human transfinite emergence subsuming the lower ordering stasis of the biosphere.
In the foregoing narrative, we see that forces that appear to be arbitrarily destructive at large may be overcome via the creation of novel degrees of evolutionary freedom. This sort of creative lawful problem solving must become the norm if we are to outlive the perilous evil of geopolitics that currently threatens us with the annihilation of thermonuclear war. The geopolitical worldview that humanity is no different in essence than the brute beasts is that of the oligarchy. That oligarchy's power rests upon the control of financial speculation. If we are to provide any legacy worthy of humanity the control of that bestial worldview must be superseded once and for all.
Eratosthenes first measured the circumference of the earth from the shadows cast by the sun. Today, humanity's fitness to survive will be measured by our ability to conquer that same thermonuclear fusion that casts those shadows. Thus, Prometheus will truly be unbound.
Friday, May 18, 2018
The Evolutionary Preconditions for the Human Mind
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