Method, Mind & Spirit

Today, we commemorate the 200^th birthday of Charles Robert Darwin. On Feb. 9, The New York Times published a collection of articles to celebrate this occasion and the 150^th anniversary of the publication of his most influential work entitled "On the Origin of Species". On Feb. 11 and Feb. 12, National Public Radio's Morning Edition devoted segments of almost eight minutes to Darwin's work and life.

Confronted with forms of life on the Galapagos Islandsthat seemed in shape related, yet diverse, Charles Darwin concluded that two rules best explain his observations.

Variation: The first rule required that each creature contained the information for its species' blueprint known as Bauplan to German scholars. The blueprints needed to be permanent, passed down to a great extent conserved through the generations. This permanence would achieve the regularity of Bauplan observed within a species. Yet, the blueprints needed to be mutable, allowing variation of form such that the species may be resistant against or take advantage of emerging novel conditions in its environment.

Selection: The second rule stipulated that the variations of Bauplan within a species would guarantee that the best adapted form survived, procreated, and eventually evolved into an entirely new species.

Applying the two rules in due diligence on the material he collected, Darwin was able to construct a tree of life. Darwin's Theory of Evolution was born.

Darwin provided us with hypotheses that could be tested with comparisons of the fossil record of past life forms, in as much as they were open to experimentation in laboratories as well as in contemporary natural environments. We have gained enormous insights from these studies into the fashion with which life may fit into the history of our planet and the history of the universe. His theory of evolution helps us to explain where we are coming from and where we may go to, using the scientific method.

The scientific method constitutes a natural extension of our innate playfulness and curiosity. Our mind is very sensitive to the extraordinary. It bothers us. We immediately wonder why things seem different, and thus we experiment unrelentingly with cause to unravel the mystery of effect, until we arrive at satisfactory explanations. Without this gift, we would not be here today. The scientific method requires that cause and effect are reproducible, that experimental conditions can be adjusted to influence results in a predictable way, and eventually that any theory emerging from experimentation is mutable, that it can be replaced with an improved theory, if our assumptions prove irreconcilable with our observations.

By contrast, faith is unrestrained, boundless, free from experimentation. Faith, thus, constitutes a complement to the scientific method. Hence, attempts at setting articles of faith against the scientific method are bound to end in futility.

Addenda

• The Economist provides an interesting statistic in an article on today's acceptance of Darwin's ideas on Feb. 5.
• The Tennessean's Bob Smietana posted an insightful article entitled "Darwin still Divides Believers in the Bible" on the possible reconciliation of Darwin's theory and faith on Feb. 14. The comments are of note.

The trip with which the journey began:

Moving into the Front Row

“A little while and I will be gone from among you,
Whither, I cannot tell.
From nowhere we came;
into nowhere we go.
What is life?
It is the flash of a firefly in the night.
It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.
It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.”

Chief Isapo-muxika,
1830-1890,

in memory of my mother, 11/06/1922-12/31/2008. 

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Faith & Science

Once in a while in the fall, the Holy See convenes a scientific meeting at the Vatican. Reuters filed a report on this year's event on Oct. 31. The current theme is "Scientific Insights into the Evolution of the Universe and of Life." The Holy See seeks to showcase eminent scientists and Nobel Prize-laureates who pursue research deemed of particular importance to the Church. Last Friday, Oct. 31, the physicist Stephen Hawking, author of "A Brief History of Time From The Big Bang To Black Holes", spoke about his insights into the evolution of the universe. Though, the head of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences at the Vatican presides over these conventions, the Holy Father himself usually addresses the assembled and gives his blessing. No doubt, the Catholic Church takes science seriously.

I attended this meeting twenty years ago. I am not Catholic. I went regardless. The theme was "Longevity and Quality of Life." Advances in the understanding of nerve cell repair after brain injury were presented. I am interested in brain plasticity. John Paul II was pope. A pharmaceutical firm named Fidia from Abano Terme, a beautiful spa in Italy, co-sponsored the convention. Fidia-supported research had provided evidence that gangliosides were involved in nerve cell repair after spinal cord injury and the company would apply for a U.S. patent for gangliosides as therapeutics in coming years. The hope at the Vatican meeting was that research on the role of gangliosides might eventually yield potential remedies for neuro-degenerative diseases. Sadly, not much has come of this hope. Fidia's fortune evaporated in a political scandal involving the bribery of high-ranking Italian government officials.

Little did we know how important this type of research would become to John Paul II personally. He passed away three years ago after a long struggle with Parkinson's Disease. Perhaps he knew at the time. Close up, this pope was strikingly warm and personable. He seemed to care about people. I was deeply moved by the reverence he was paid. I saw him with mixed emotions. I shared a number of his passions, not the least his love of skiing and hiking in the alps, particularly in the Mont Blanc massif near Courmayeur high up at the source of the Aosta. There you may visit the Val Veny, the Punta Bronner, the Val de la Fenetre, the Mont Dolon. The views are spectacular. He traveled there on one of his last trips, sat on the deck of his favorite spot, and watched these magnificent mountains for hours on end. When I saw the pictures of him reposing in a chair, studying the panorama in solemnity and silence, I immediately understood. He had a passion for life. However, many consequences he drew from this passion I could not agree with.

Before I left for this trip, a colleague and friend told me that a pendant of the Virgin Mary worn during the papal blessing would protect you from harm for the rest of your life. I bought a pendant in one of the numerous religious nick-knack shops on the ascend to St. Peter Square and took it to the blessing. Two days later I returned home, carrying with me a blessed pendant for my friend and the insight that the Holy See strives for and cares deeply about an understanding of science as a method of enlightenment.

Addendum

• As Philip Pullella reports in his post on Reuters dated Jul. 2, 2009, the Holy See embraces scientific discovery, only on its own pace (07/02/09).

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