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Wednesday, November 19, 2008 12:00 AM

God enough

We should see the ceaseless creativity of nature as sacred, argues biologist Stuart Kauffman, despite what Richard Dawkins might say.

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  • Wednesday, November 19, 2008 12:07 PM

    love of scientism

    It is unfortunate that this guy invokes the word 'God' to explain his attacks on scientism. Most people, especially on the so called liberal-left, educated in America's undergraduate college classes seem to have been utterly mesmerized by additive, reductionist conceptions of life, politics, economics and history.

    I take it Kauffman is actually a true materialist, not a spiritualist (despite his language) who sees life as a complex emergent system and creativity as something that can't be reduced to algorithms (didn't Godel point this way?)In this sense he stands with Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Bergson, Heidegger, etc, who are accused of being charlatans or extremists, but who at least stood up to the prevailing scientisms of their times.

    Read the 'Journal of Consciousness Studies' for serious attempts to apply these 'emergentist' ideas to the mind.

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