Synopsis
Scientists are puzzled. “Why won’t the public embrace our scientific theory of evolution?” This book is my answer, written in terms of my own experience and my own way of looking at the world. But it may speak for you too. It may tell those scientists why the rest of us think we’re better off without their theory. Evolution matters. It’s much too important to leave to scientists. It matters because evolution has become our new origin story. Aren’t we bound to look to our origin story to find out who and what we are? But when we do that with today’s scientific theory—“the modern synthesis”—the answers we get aren’t satisfying. So I've come up with a theory of evolution of my own that gives me answers I’m happier with, answers to do with meaning and values.When it’s meaning and values you’re after you have to look beyond science. In this book you’ll find me supplementing what we know about the human genome with the history of the Ancient World. Chapters of rational argument alternate with stories, flights of imagination through which I explore what evolution must mean. The result is a new natural philosophy—the world isn’t the way we thought it was—and a new framework for moral values, values inherent in the process of evolution itself.
Review
A reconsideration of evolutionproposes an alternative to both Darwinism and creationism.
Johnston (Alternative toDarwinism and Creationism Based on Free Will, 2011, etc.) was fascinated byscience as a young child, and the theory of evolution in particular after heread Darwin's The Origin of the Species in his teens. But he eventuallybecame dissatisfied with its limitations, especially its inability to fullyaccount for human consciousness, creativity, and free will. In order tocommunicate the crux of his consternation--and eventual conversion fromenthusiastic Darwinian--the author conjures three possible worlds. The first isan irreducibly physical one filled with bodies but bereft of mind or freewill--he calls this the "PhysicsCosmos." Another is a realm that permits theexistence of the supernatural, including angels, demons, and God, called"SpiritCosmos." Finally, there is "MindCosmos," which makes a place forconsciousness and its effects, but without recourse to a religious metaphysics.This is the world Johnston finds most consistent with human experience, andseeks a new evolutionary theory that explains the emergence of intelligentcreativity. The fulcrum of that account is the genome, so marvelously packedwith complex information that it essentially thinks into existence a newspecies endowed with volition: "That colossal capacity for information, plusits evident ability to manage all that information, taken together persuade methat the genome could function as a brain." The author explores the superiorityof his model to competing candidates and also discusses its implications forfields like economics and education.
While there's no shortage of recentmonographs, scholarly and popular, on the shortcomings of both evolutionary theoryand creationism, Johnston's contribution to the field is an astonishinglyoriginal one. In a way, his version is deeply Cartesian, haunted by theinteraction between mind and matter, but also grounded in the ordinaryexperience of human action. He thoughtfully understands that the quest for anorigin story is not merely a matter of genetic mechanics, but also tied to theexistence of the human self and the values and purposes that propel that selfthrough a finite life. The commentary is supplemented by short stories,quirkily constructed around the nature of human consciousness and agency; forexample, one centers on the famous Turing test. Problematically, the work'sbrevity is both a boon and a burden. While the author's concision, as well aslucid writing style, makes for accessibility, it also necessitates arguments socondensed they raise as many questions as they aim to answer. For example, it'snever clear whether the self is autonomously constructed--the product of willfulchoice--or the sum result of historical forces; he seems to suggest both. Inaddition, much of the discussion regarding the genome as the seat ofintelligence is unspecific and metaphorical, and so seems like a prelude to amuch more detailed examination. Nonetheless, this is a valuably fresh take onan important debate, and an excellent introduction to some of Darwinism'sphilosophical flaws (an appendix is dedicated to cataloging them).
An admirably innovative reflectionon the evolution of human consciousness. -KIRKUS REVIEW
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