I have been remembering stories from my biology teaching days but they are now coloured with ‘interbeing’. There was and is some amazing life-forms on the planet: they interact in incredibly sophisticated ways - but ‘intelligent’ is not a good word for them.
We think of intelligence in terms of how we understand ourselves to operate (and that may have very little to do with the ‘real’ reality). That which evolved since the Big Bang had no designer and no planning committee. There are many more extinct species than there are extant ones. There was, is and always will be ‘churn’ - but it is not useful to think of it as intelligent.
Bits of order appear within the chaos and complexity of the cosmos – then they fade away. This is true at cosmic, biological (ecological) and cultural levels. Before long the sun will go out and the solar system will collapse – but this will not be noticed in the immensity of the universe. If there is to be a future beyond that time then by what means will it be realised? Does it make sense to think of an intelligent witness?
250 million years ago the Age of the Dinosaurs came to an abrupt end (due to asteroids) and made room on the planet for mammals. 2.5 million years ago the first Hominids came into existence as small groups of hunters and gatherers. 3,500 years ago agriculture was developing and the first civilizations were established. 20 years ago personal computers became quite common. Last week there was news of the potential collapse of the global financial system.
Which is the more miraculous – a green leaf or a mobile phone?
