INTEGRAL WORLD MAILING LIST http://www.integralworld.net Newsletter Nr. 677 Amsterdam, September 17th, 2017 JUMPING TO SPECULATIONS - A Comment on Joe Corbetts Essays on Trans-Darwinism - FRANK VISSER Many attempts have been made to expand the neo-Darwinian worldview, even if conceding its basic tenet that natural selection plays large role in evolution. It is crucially important to know thoroughly what is meant by "Darwinian" before any attempt to transcend it can be successful. Ken Wilber thinks neo-Darwinism is correct as far as it goes but is incomplete because it cannot explain evolutionary novelty. For that reason he has introduced the notion of an "Eros in the Kosmos", a quasi-physical/spiritual drive towards higher forms of complexity and consciousness.[1] Given his inadequate understanding of the scientific understanding of Darwinian evolution, his "alternative explanation" leaves much to be desired, especially when presented as a serious scientific proposition. Others have argued that Darwinian evolution cannot explain value and purpose in evolution, and needs to be complemented by some metaphysical principle. Steve McIntosh, for example, has suggested a strong pull behind evolution drawing every organism towards the True, the Beautiful and the Good.[3] Again, no scientist has yet felt the need to introduce such a speculative notion, nor can it be argued that it explains much. For sure, evolution has had its fair share of ugliness and injustice, given the fact that 99% of all species that ever lived have gone extinct—and we will positively help the remaining species to go down the same road. And again, Christian authors have felt that neo-Darwinian explanations fall short of handling "irreducible complexity", or they feel that the complexities of DNA force us to admit it must have been coded by a Divine Programmer.[4] Read more: http://www.integralworld.net/visser107.html SHABD YOGA 4.0 - Magic, Myth, Logic, Explore - DAVID LANE Ken Wilber has introduced a number of useful concepts over the years, particularly his understanding of the pre/trans fallacy and the hierarchical nature of spiritual aspirations. I am particularly fond of his 1984 book, A Sociable God, which introduced his scaffolding template for doing a “transcendental” sociology. Back in 1985 I gave one of the first academic papers on Wilber's model at the American Academy of Religion. Initially it was not well received because some scholars in attendance didn't like judging whether one religion was more authentic than another or possessed a lesser degree of legitimacy. Eventually, however, some researchers realized that Wilber's schema could be useful, particularly after the publication of Spiritual Choices in 1987 (co-edited by Dick Anthony, Ken Wilber, and Bruce Ecker) since it provided a series of checklists for determining whether a particular religion's beliefs were magical, mythical, rational, or potentially transcendent. Read more: http://www.integralworld.net/lane129.html