Ten Discoveries from Biology to Spirituality

Book excerpt: This work offers an alternative paradigm for viewing life and its dynamic capacity for change. Rather than looking at the end result of evolution with concepts such as fitness, we focus on the actual process of change, which is fragile. Using plain-spoken language and based on an earlier scholarly work, six biological domains which exhibit fragility and make for evolutionary novelty are examined. 1) the organism's dynamic genome, which exhibits a remarkable fluidity and interactivity with the environment; 2) Symbiosis, which involves the creative merger of two types of organisms; 3) Sexuality, in which sexes merge to produce unique offspring; 4) Multicellularity, which makes for most of earth's macroscopic life; 5) Development, which are changes during the fragile period of immaturity. 6) The principle of the "head", a holistic/controlling dimension of the organism, which is inherently fragile and dynamic; 7) The social dimension, with both fragile cooperative and competitive interactions, and; 8) The ecological dimension with its interwoven, delicate web of connections. To this we can add a cumulative dimension, embraces a spirituality of biology. Instructing youth and having the public become aware of models, which consider the fragility and sacrificial dimension of dynamic change, would enhance our personal lives and increase the chances for humanity's and the biosphere's survival on earth. Read this work to gain a healthy view of the reality of biological organisms and how dynamic change occurs.