Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Now I think I speak for many of you buddhists out there when I say that we are in part attracted to the Buddhist philosphy because we don't have to ignore the discoveries of science when embracing its worldview. This review (from the NY Times Book Review) of the latest Dalai Lama work, "The Universe in a Single Atom," says a bit more about this:

"But this book offers something wiser: a compassionate and clearheaded account by a religious leader who not only respects science but, for the most part, embraces it. 'If scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims,' he writes. No one who wants to understand the world 'can ignore the basic insights of theories as key as evolution, relativity and quantum mechanics.'

"That is an extraordinary concession compared with the Christian apologias that dominate conferences devoted to reconciling science and religion. The 'dialogues' implicitly begin with nonnegotiables - 'Given that Jesus died on the cross and was bodily resurrected into heaven ..' - then seek scientific justification for what is already assumed to be true."

But not so fast:

"But when it comes to questions about life and its origins, this would-be man of science begins to waiver. Though he professes to accept evolutionary theory, he recoils at one of its most basic tenets: that the mutations that provide the raw material for natural selection occur at random. Look deeply enough, he suggests, and the randomness will turn out to be complexity in disguise - 'hidden casuality,' -the Buddha's smile. There you have it, Eastern Religion's version of intelligent design."

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't think one can infer an Eastern argument for intelligent design from cause and effect. Cause/effect is the fundamental premise of evolution. Something causes a mutation which causes a DNA change which causes which ... in response to the environment causes ... Things that are unpredictable because of complexity aren't necessarily random.

Even quantum mechanics, while indeterminate, except statistically, are only outside the realm of cause/effect, according to Bell's theorem, if one insists on locality.

I just don't see your logic.

12:56 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Very interesting, 'crank. But perhaps the Dalai Lama and evolution are in sync. Instances of a new mutations arise randomly; but those that don't flame out can be said to 'survive' because of causality.

12:56 PM  
Blogger They call him James Ure said...

I want to read this book. Just a question to throw out there: Could not evolution be the same thing as a Buddhist belief in rebirth via ones karma?

Just wondering what everyone thinks. Sorry to be slow on this discussion.

12:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The basis of Chaos theory is that there is no such thing as random events. "Random" mearly means that you don't know all the variables. I believe we will find this true even at the quantum level once we are able to understand and explain how it works.

I'm not sure if that is what the Buddhists mean though.

9:01 AM  

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