Saturday 15 September 2012

The Failure of Materialism


This is a synopsis inspired by the creative scientist, Sheldrakes recent book, 'The Science Delusion' (it is a pun on Dawkin's book 'The God Delusion'). Sheldrake is the originator of the 'morphogenetic fields' theory of organism genetics and memory. Here he takes apart scientism's current dogmatic stance.

Following is the central nuggets from Sheldrake's excellent book, all handily predigested for you, lucky person..by the way pop over to my website www.leonsouthgate.com and read me new essay combining life-energy and consciousness theories if you fancy some light bedtime reading...http://www.leonsouthgate.com/lifeforceconscious.html

The Ten Central Failures of Materialism

Introduction

In the 17th Century science and muscular Christianity got shacked up. They gave birth to a mutant called Materialism. The white coats in labs got the matierial universe and the black frocks in cloisters got the spiritual one.  

Before the 17th Century Christians believed in an animist universe filled with living matter pervaded by the divine breath. There was a tripartite view of reality, God/Spirit, Souls/energy and Living matter.  

This was reduced to Spirit vs Dead matter then secularised to mind vs dead matter, triad to duality.  
The Bible believes in a creative universe incidentally, organisms arise from divine nature, they are not 'designed' like a car.  

So what has materialism given us, apart from sadist philosophers? Sod all basically. 

Here are the 10 central failures of mechanistic science: 

1. Nature and organisms are like machines. 

FAIL - Any living thing self-organises (unlike machines), is creative and has properties only found in the 'whole' entity (unlike machines). A living organism is a better metaphor for us and the cosmos than the metaphor of a machine. (Leon - Silicate life if it does exist would follow organismic rules not mechanical ones).

2. There is a mechanistic code for all life - DNA. 

FAIL - DNA is only coding for proteins, it doesn't even tell them how to 'fold'. DNA is the same in every cell yet body parts differ - no mechanism found to explain this. Most of DNA is still a mystery and there are other genetic processes outside of DNA. It changes all the time and communicates. It has been anthropomorphised by science into a 'creator god'- it ain't. (Leon - DNA illness-disposition tests can be dubious scientifically but profitable. Environmental aspects can change the DNA profile).

3. The Total Amount of Energy & Matter Is Always The Same. 

FAIL - Organisms create energy without apparent external input (more out than in), dark energy appears creative, laws of thermodynamics/entropy have been broken by various energy devices including Reich's accumulators. People have sustained life for years without food and this has been confirmed by various scientists (breatharian studies - there are many and some are good quality). 

4. Matter is Unconscious.

FAIL: Dualism has failed, there is no way for living mind and dead matter to communicate. Materialism is only plausible if we accept all matter as alive and conscious - the pan-psychism of the ancients. 

5. The Laws of Nature are Fixed.

FAIL: Matter and normal gravitation don't explain the cosmos. It looks like new dark energy and dark matter are being created all the time. A constant speed of light is a false consensus not a fact. Actual measurements vary. The gravitational constant 'G' may well fluctuate too. Other 'constants' are up for grabs.  

6. Nature is Purposeless as is Evolution. 

FAIL: Animals proceed flexibly toward goals. 
Evolution cannot be affected by consciousness in pure materialism, so why does evolution produce, and favour, something it cannot affect? 

7. All Genetic Inheritance is Material. 

FAIL: Some organisms can regenerate back to their whole structure without genes such as the Acetabulara. DNA fails to explain morphogenesis (creation of forms, such as an organism). 

8. Minds are inside Heads and are the Result of Brain Activity. 

FAIL: There is no proof of this whatsoever. Minds may simply use brains. There are people born with hardly any brain who are normal mentally. 

9. Memories are Stored Materially in Brains. 

FAIL: No one has ever found a physical memory trace. Just because the brain is involved with memory processes does not mean memory is stored like a filing cabinet. The mind appears to be non-local and/or holographic.

10. Mechanistic Medicine is the only One that Works. 

FAIL: The great leap forward in health since 1900 has more to do with environmental improvements than mechanistic medicine. Most of the wonder drugs were just gifts from nature, such as fungus giving us antibiotics. If we examine practical efficacy en-mass alternative medicine may come out on top. 

4 comments:

  1. I should perhaps mention that the above is not verbatim comments from Sheldrake but all my interpretation...Leon

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  2. So this is what he was banned from TEDx for. As Terence McKenna once said: "When I heard Science magazine had suggested his book should be burnt, I burnt rubber in my haste to get to the nearest bookstore and buy a copy."

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  3. 'Scientific' bodies just love burning books! Its only 55 years since the FDA burnt Reich's books in the USA, they're still fiddling the books now. I can imagine TEDx don't like Sheldrake either, I don't know much about them but they seem to have a fair deal of corporate backing..

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  4. I have since thought that TEDx really disliked the way Sheldrake is so easy on the ear and intelligent but especially the way he got the audience laughing at physicists mechanical thinking. That must've ruffled some feathers. But in a nutshell, yes you are right Ben, thats what got him banned...

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