Is Universal Evolution Woo-Woo?

[dlamberth]

BTW, it's 'noosphere'.

Oh....thanks for the correction. Sloppy typing on my part.

 

[stevevw]

It's good to see things open-mindedly, and to explore everything.

...IMO.

OK so after some more reading I have come across some interesting stuff.
Teilhard who helped formulate Universal Evolution perceived directionality in evolution along an axis of increasing Complexity/Consciousness. For Teilhard the noosphere is a sphere of thought that surrounded the earth and evolved through increased complexity and consciousness in humans. He equates the noosphere like the other spheres around the earth ie atmosphere, and biosphere ect. So from what I understand the noosphere has evolved from phsyical into a non physical force of influence.

I guess this is where some will say the Woo comes in. But I don't see it as too much different to how some see consciousness today. In fact one article says that the idea of the noosphere is being researched by the Global consciousness Project. So It seems to be about the combined human mind and consciousness being a force of some sort.

It seems Conwy Lloyd Morgan (known for emergent evolution and behaviouralism) built on the idea of the noosphere with emergent evolution accounting for increased complexity and the evolution of the mind. He found that many of the most interesting changes in living things have been largely discontinuous with past evolution.

Therefore, living organisms did not evolve through a gradual process of natural selection. Rather, he posited, the process of evolution experiences jumps in complexity (such as the emergence of a self-reflective universe, or noosphere), in a sort of qualitative punctuated equilibrium.

Finally, the complexification of human cultures, particularly language, facilitated a quickening of evolution in which cultural evolution occurs more rapidly than biological evolution. Recent understanding of human ecosystems and of human impact on the biosphere have led to a link between the notion of sustainability with the "co-evolution"[22] and harmonization of cultural and biological evolution.
Noosphere - Wikipedia

So the incorporation of human minds brings about a different dimension to evolution beyond the physical world. This is perhaps why Indigenous peoples are look upon for sustainable living as they exist in harmony with nature and each other through spirituality. This has parallels with how culture, behaviour and consciousness influence evolution beyond genes.

 

[Ophiolite]

In the short to medium term, there's the possibility of Moon & Mars bases, self-directing artificial intelligence and von Neumann probes - assuming human civilization persists a while more. Beyond that, who knows? interplanetary colonisation?

I'm not seeing those as examples of emergence. It looks to me just like a bunch of apes doing what they nomally do (make tools and go over the next hill) on an enlarged scale. Maybe a conscious AI, or an AI with properties we cannot yet, or perhaps ever, imagine might fit the bill.

 

[FrumiousBandersnatch]

I'm not seeing those as examples of emergence. It looks to me just like a bunch of apes doing what they nomally do (make tools and go over the next hill) on an enlarged scale. Maybe a conscious AI, or an AI with properties we cannot yet, or perhaps ever, imagine might fit the bill.

OK - they were more suggestions for potential sources of emergence.