The following podcasts are recordings of the annual Star Island summer conference (August 2006) of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS). The 2006 and 2007 conferences' theme, "Emergence: Nature's
Mode of Creativity," was discussed by a group of stellar scientists, philosophers, and theologians. This conference focused principally on pre-human manifestations of emergence; the summer 2007 conference will extend that discussion to the realm of humans and culture. More information on the 2007 conference is available at www.iras.org. IRAS is one of this journal's two co-owners (the other, the Center for the Advanced Study in Religion and Science [CASIRAS]). The podcasts are introduced by Donald Braxton, professor of religious studies, Juniata College, who produced them. We are pleased to feature this cooperation between IRAS, professor Braxton, and Zygon. The papers from the conference will appear in this journal later in 2007.
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Themes of Emergence
Star Island, July 29, 2006
Loyal Rue is professor of Religion and Philosophy at Luther
College in Decorah, IA. His area of research is in the naturalistic
theory of religion.
Rue introduces the annual gathering of IRAS, Institute on Religion
in an Age of Science, to the theme of the 2006 conference - Emergence:
Nature’s Mode of Creativity.
Lecture 2: The Creativity of the Biosphere
Star Island, July 30, 2006
Stuart Kauffman is a theoretical biologist interested in genetic
regulatory networks, the origin of life, evolution, and the character
of molecular autonomous agents.
Kauffman discusses creativity in the biosphere using the concepts
of self-organizing propagation, autocatalysis, invasion of the adjacent
possible, Darwinian preadaptations, and autonomous agents. He closes
with comments on the close association of meaning with life itself.
He suggests a novel sustaining mythology is birthing which is not
built on the fears of religious fundamentalism and their ideas of
Intelligent Design.
Lecture 3: From the Quantum to the Classical by Michael Silberstein
Star Island, July 30, 2006
Michael Silberstein is an associate professor of philosophy
at Elizabethtown College His work is in the philosophy of physics
and cognitive neuroscience.
Silberstein outlines several possible explanations for the emergence
of classical mechanics from quantum mechanics. Using examples from
condensed matter theory , he speculates on his own theory of the
transition and then suggests analogies for other critical transitions
including the emergence of life from physical systems. A powerpoint
presentation accompanies this talk.
Lecture 4: Emergence of Planetary Structures by Michael Wysession
Star Island, July 31, 2006
Michael Wysession is an associate professor at Washington University
int he Department of earth and Planetary Sciences.
Wysession discusses the 4 billion year evolution of our planet. He
takes us through the sequence of developments from homogeneous ball
of dust to the creation of hospitable womb for life.
Lecture 5: Emergence of Life by Bruce Weber
Star Island, July 31, 2006
Bruce Weber is a biochemist from California State University
at Fullerton and Bennington College.
Weber explores various accounts of the emergence of life centered
on notions of living systems, replication, metabolism, tapping energy
gradients, enclosure. motility, and agency. He situates these considerations
in the context of complex systems dynamics. He suggests this context
allows us to avoid the quest for a specific history of the emergence
of life and instead think about the interplay of selective and self-organizational
principles.
Lecture 6: A Religious Interpretation of Emergence: God as Creativity
by Gordon Kaufman
Star Island, August 1, 2006
Gordon Kaufman is a professor of theology at the Divinity School
of Harvard University.
Kaufman argues that we think of God as creativity rather than “the
Creator”. He contends this formulation allows greater connection
with modern cosmologies and evolutionary theory. Specifically, this
idea removes anthropomorphism and anthropocentrism from the equation.
Additionally, it resonates with modern ideas of the Big Bang, evolution,
and emergence. Finally, it links to the awe-inspiring experience
of the mystery of creativity in the Universe.
Lecture 7: The Emergence of Embryos and Death by Ursula Godenough
Star Island, August 1, 2006
Ursula Goodenough is a professor of biology at Washington University
of St. Louis.
Goodenough addresses the transition from unicellular to multicellular
organisms. Once sex showed up, Ursula says, the way was paved for
multicellularity to evolve. Her talk is situated within the recent
field of the evolution of animal development or “evo-devo” where
emergent properties build on emergent properties. Embryos literally
construct themselves from the bottom up. This picture is integrated
into an understanding of death since “immortality” is entrusted
to a separate germ line.
Lecture 8: Absence Lets the Heart Grow Complex: Emergent Evolution
from a Darwinian Hiatus by Terry Deacon
Star Island, August 2, 2006
Terry Deacon is a professor of anthropology at the University
of California Berkeley.
Deacon argues that our understanding of evolution is rapidly changing.
One of the most surprising realizations in human evolution is that
the emergence of language abilities do not require the evolution
of novel brain structures but rather unprecedented synergistic interaction
between brain systems which in other species are unrelated. Recent
understandings in “evo-devo” emphasize the complex nature of variation
and selection processes. Deacon suggests that a nested relationship
between self-organization and Darwinian processes is likely a general
feature of all teleodynamic emergent relationships, including brain
function and cognition.
Lecture 9: Animal Societies and the Emergence of Friendships by
Barbara Smuts
Star Island, August 2, 2006
Barbara Smuts is professor of psychology at the University
of Michigan.
Smuts argues that animal societies emerge through bottom-up interactions
among individuals and that these structures are best understood
through multi-directional feedback loops and self-organization.
In this talk, Smuts considers one such emergent novelty in gregarious
vertebrates: animal friendships. From there Smuts moves to consider
human-animal friendships.
Lecture 10: Structural Emergence in Ecosystems and Evosystems by
Guy Hoelzer
Star Island, August 3, 2006
Guy Hoelzer is an associate professor in the department of
biology at the University of Nevada at Reno.
Hoelzer addresses the emergence of of dynamic entities in the realm
of ecology and evolution. Specifically, he makes an argument for
coherent ecosystems and links them to processes of speciation. His
model suggests that all species “heave toward parapatric speciation”
in the absence of any divisive influence from the environment.
Lecture 11: Emerging Planetary Civilization by Mary Evelyn Tucker
and Brian Swimme
Star Island, August 3, 2006
Mary Evelyn Tucker is the co-director of the Forum on Religion
and Ecology.
Brian Swimme is a faculty member at the California Institute
for Integral Studies in San Francisco.
Drawing on ideas from emergence theory, Tucker and Swimme suggest
that a viable way to understand the current state of humans is that
a multiform planetary civilization is coming forth. Examples include
the European Union and the Earth Charter.
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