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Modern science is great for understanding nature on a tactical front, but it doesn't provide much in the way of a strategic understanding of it. That is, science has an excellent functionality grasp of natural processes, but it lacks a broader structural view of nature. Let me cite some examples.
1. Centralist structures in nature: There are different functional forces and processes involved in nature, but nonetheless, nature organizes rather uniformly around central structures with outer structures sparsed at some distance from the centralist core. Such a simplicity is seen in physical terms in such structures as nuclei structures, stellar structures, galactic core structures, etc. This is seen in such diversity that it extends far beyond physical structures. It extends to things like cells, tribes, cities, and even much more virtual entities such as servers, theories, and concepts. The centralist theme is embedded into a deeper description of reality.
2. Language implications of nature. What is clear about nature (in my opinion) is that nature adopts to a certain language in many levels of its organization. For example, in physical systems that language is mathematical in general terms, but is especially suited to particular physical formulas (language) that describe physical behavior. Chemical systems are very adapted to chemical equations (language). Collective physical systems emit specific patterns of communication (language). Biological systems are being shown to be very well tied to genetic code (language). Social systems in the wild have a great deal of verbal and non-verbal communication (language). Human civilizations almost totally rely on spoken and written language to survive. The underlying theme here is that natural systems include a certain kind of vocabulary, grammer, style, and semantics that define the physical system in question.
3. Aging processes: It isn't generally seen as an organizing aspect of nature, but certainly aging is part of the organization of nature. Objects of nature evolve or age and go through phases of development. Those cycles/phases are studied very carefully by science, but mainly in a tactical sense. The strategic aspect of the aging process in nature is that aging is an organizing feature of the natural world. That is, maturity is a feature of nature. It is embedded in natural things, and ultimately, we see the emergence of maturity in the things of the world. It is part of the code of nature, if you will.
4. Diversification: Another feature of nature is that diversification is a natural, or should I say, required process. Call it a parenthood law of reality that things multiply and eventually diversify into their own maturity.
5. Unification: It is odd that nature favors unification given that it spawns diversity, but nature continually recombines with the diversity it creates, and unifies itself by eliminating waste or eliminating uncompetitiveness or bringing together new systems. This is actually a key advancement of natural systems in that there would be no 'system' unless some kind of unification happened. However, no unification could happen unless nature also diversified itself. After unification a new system is born and that system moves onward to its own maturity and eventual diversification.
6. Death and Re-Birth: After aging is complete, nature has plentiful examples of eventual death and then, surprisingly, some kind of re-birth. The re-birth may happen by being absorbed into some other system (unification), or as the raw materials of a new developing system, or as an influencer to future generations. What nature makes clear is that death and re-birth are organizing features of its key attributes.
7. Day of Judgement: There are certain kinds of events in nature that seem to decide the path for the distant future. It is a 'moment', but the critical location of that 'moment' has a certain 'day of Judgement' feel about it. For the proton the day of Judgement happened within the first attosecond of the Big Bang. For life on earth it happened shortly after the earth cooled enough to support life. The situation of reality is such that a great deal of the future is decided in a very short period of time.
8. Ascension to Heaven or descension to Hell: It seems odd to say that nature ascends to heaven or descends to hell, but extinction and rapid proliferation are inherent features of nature. Every so often conditions come into alignment which do bring 'heaven on earth' (e.g., nature's invention of the atomic structure, or nature's invention of the cellular structure, etc). Likewise, 'hell on earth' happens as well. A mass extinction here, or a catastrophic situation there are part and parcel of nature. The natural process of things is that 'heaven and hell' are part of what nature is. It is at every level, every aspect of nature. It is visible for all eyes to see.
So, I don't think it is difficult to see how certain kinds of religions and philosophies emerged in human beings. It isn't just a bunch of random occurrences that led to specific human beliefs and philosophies. Rather, it is the observation of nature and seeing their universality at work that naturally leads to those observations becoming part of human conceptions of what lies beyond the physical conception of the world. Different philosophies or religions might emphasize a different aspect of the strategies of nature, but the fundamentals of religions are all acting themselves out in nature.
The million dollar question is whether nature is just acting these out randomly (i.e., for no reason), or whether there is some divine reason why nature fits these kind of patterns. Are we to learn from nature? |
