HUMAN EVOLUTION VIEWED THROUGH SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS OF CHAOS, COMPLEXITY AND EMERGENCE, AND THE SPIRITUAL VISIONS OF T. DE CHARDIN AND SRI AUROBINDO
HUMAN EVOLUTION VIEWED THROUGH SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS OF CHAOS, COMPLEXITY AND EMERGENCE, AND THE SPIRITUAL VISIONS OF T. DE CHARDIN AND SRI AUROBINDO

Summary/Abstract: The newer scientific fields of Chaos, Complexity and Emergence are providing fresh insights into the mechanisms by which novel characteristics have appeared during evolution. As we move toward the next evolutionary step, we may envision these same mechanisms at work, with ourselves as active agents cooperating with the process, perhaps sensing an apparent Attractor drawing us toward a more complex state. Two representatives of Western and Eastern religious traditions, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955) and Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950), have already outlined possible paths which humankind might take toward a higher spiritual state. This paper will detail their views on evolution and evaluate their visions of the future from the perspective of emergence theory.

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