Stuart Kauffman (Introduction)

by dhw, Saturday, February 07, 2015, 19:46 (3576 days ago) @ David Turell

Kauffman: Maybe, in some sense, if Penrose-Hameroff Orchestrated Objective Reduction or my “Beyond the Stalemate” ideas are right, we get a wildly panpsychist participatory universe. In such a view, measurement anywhere is associated with consciousness and responsible will, and for entangled particles a coordinated version of the above, a kind of “mind of God.” but not an omnipotent, omniscient, kind God in monotheistic sense at all. I wrote Reinventing the Sacred, Basic Books 2008, in part to find a sense of God as the natural creativity of universe.-dhw: I have added in bold the section of the Kauffman quote that you left out, as it is the crucial difference between your concept and his.
-DAVID: As you will note, I've just given Bbella some info about Kauffman. His 'natural creativity' is the self-organizational ability he proposes must e present to explain the universe and life. As an atheist he doesn't accept chance he can't let a 'divine foot in the door'. And that is your point also. You should enjoy his books; he is like me, all theory, no proof. But at least I'm happy with my choice.-He is like all of us, because there can't be proof. That is why it is always absurd to be dogmatic about what is and isn't possible in relation to origins. I find it very reassuring that someone with his background is prepared to take seriously ideas which both theists and his fellow atheists like to dismiss, even though their own theories are riddled with uncertainties.-I know you are happy with your choice, and I would not want our discussions to cast even the slightest shadow over your happiness. I am by nature also quite a happy soul, and my choice not to choose does not impinge on my love of life. In some strange way, perhaps it is even an enhancement.