A few days back, I read this amazing article ‘Why everything you’ve been told about evolution is wrong‘, thanks to Surekha. Though it begins by rubbishing ‘creation by God’, it thankfully moves soon enough into Darwin’s theory of evolution and the epigenome (the protective package of proteins around which DNA is wrapped), which plays a role in deciding which genes get to express themselves in a creature’s traits and how much. It talks further of how a change in the surrounding environment for even a relatively small time can affect the way genes express themselves in future generations. This raises a question mark on the ‘random mutation + environment filtering’ basis of Darwin’s theory, and suggests that the environment had a hand in creating those ‘random’ traits. Lifestyle alters heredity.
(Kindly read the remainder of the post before confronting your grandparents)
I don’t have a hard stance against anything to do with God/faith, because I find around me many things that are not really explained, many dimensions which we haven’t been able to crack. Maybe, we will, in the future, but that doesn’t mean I will be arrogant about science now. There are so many wonderful things around me that awes my mind because of the mix of complexity and simplicity, that I like to have faith in a system/being at a higher level.
But the article made me think about the way we have reached where we are, and our concepts of God and evolution. And that’s how I wondered whether man was ‘God’ at some far off point, and had some fun. A half-ass thought. For this scenario I’m accommodating both versions – i.e. God created man in his image OR nature threw up enough random genes to create a version of man with super powers.
So at some point a long way back, we have a set of humans on the planet, all of them with superpowers – lifespan, various controls over elements etc, and thanks to that, a complete disregard for everything around them. The system (God or evolution/epigenome) realises this is a bad thing and starts turning down the super powers slowly. Or maybe they fought amongst themselves and turned off each others’ powers, until only a few had them. Their lifestyle tampered with their heredity. In later generations, they appeared in patches, say in a few who are now known as rishis/sadhus/saints. These generations however, knew that earlier beings had superpowers and begin to regard them as Gods. They also began to fear the power of nature as they experienced calamities and lost things and people that were dear to them. Man now thinks that he should be beyond the control of nature. Technology makes its entry and is man’s weapon against everything that nature can throw at him.
Where does it go from here? Maybe nature is working to a plan – pushing man to increasingly rely on technology until the point he can no longer think for himself. And then attack man with all it has got when he’s at his most vulnerable.
until next time, a 20:20 vision we might never have 🙂
Well well well ! Man as God is not really half assed ! There are enough people that move around with such simplicity and service and not wanting to own a channel for propogation or whatever.
There are enough that would think of themselves as God ! And have followers who think of them as that too
There are yet another lot ! Who are anointed as Gods with five year terms !
There are yet another…
Well, actually, i liked the movie Anbe Sivam ! For precisely this ! God !
not really godmen.. more to do with abilities (physical/mental) that would fit a contemporary man’s expectation of God..
Q is not whether Man was God or whether Man can still become God or not – first q is who wants to become God?
actually all of them are questions 🙂
Here’s what enchants me.
There is this long thread of evolution through which all of have become what we are. But there is something unique about us.
Imagine yourself at the creator’s position and think. You are standing at the beginning of the thread and looking at germs turn into fish, fish turning into animals, animals turning into other greater animals, and then one fine days, something called man happens. He turns around, looks you in the eye and asks, “Who are you?”
This completely blows away my mind. I can’t believe this is random, I just can’t.
🙂
amazing indeed… but you know, the more i think of it, the more i believe that creatures who we feel are less advanced also have their unique communions with the creator.
but yes, the question you mentioned is exactly what we’re doing and when i think of it, it IS mindblowing 🙂
Yes. Every creature is communicating with the forces that created it. It is impossible not to. People say praying is stupid but I think we are living our prayers. Life itself is a message to God.