Syntesens Tidsalder – Nogle Ervin Laszlo citater

“Contrary to popular belief, consciousness is not a uniquely human phenomenon. Although we know only human consciousness (indeed, by direct and personal experience we know only our own consciousness, we have no reason to believe that consciousness would be limited to me and to you and to other human beings.

The kind of evidence that could demonstrate the limitation of consciousness to humans regards the brian: it would be evidence that the human brain has specific features by virtue of which it produces consciousness. Notwithstanding the view advanced by materialist scientists and philosophers that the only physical brain is the source of consciousness, there is no evidence of this kind. Clinical and experimental evidence speaks only to the fact that brain function and state of consciousness are correlated, so when brain function ceases, consciousness (usually) ceases as well. We should specify “usually,” since there are exceptions to this: in some well-documented cases – among others, those of patients suffering cardiac arrests in hospitals – individuals have had detailed and subsequently clearly recalled experiences during the time their EEG showed a complete absence of brain function

Functional MRI magnetic resonance imaging) and other techniques show that when particular thought processes occur, they are associated with metabolic changes in specific areas of the brain. They do not show, however, how the cells of the brain that produce proteins and electrical signals could also produce sensations, thougts, emotions, images, and other elements of the conscious mind ... how the brain’s network of neurons would porduce the qualitative sensations that make up our consciousness”

The fact that a high level of consciousness, with articulated images, thoughts, feelings, and rich subconscious elements, is associated with complex neural structures is not a guarantee that such consciousness is due to these structures. In other word the observation that brain function is correlated with consciousness does not ensure that the brain creates consciousness.”

“The old adage “everything is connected to everything else” desribes a true state of affairs. The results achieved [by the evolutionary sciences] furnish adequate proof that the physical, the biological, and the social realms in which evolution unfolds are by no means disconnected. At the very least, one kind of evolution prepares the ground for the next. Out of the conditions created by evolution in the physical realm emerge the conditions that permit biological evolution to take off. And out of the conditions created by biological evolution come the conditions that allow human beings – and many other species – to evolve certain social forms of organization”

“Scientific evidence of the patterns traced by evolution in the physical universe, in the living world, and even in the world of history is growing rapidly. It is coalescing into the image of basic regularities that repeat and recur. It is now possible to search out these regularities and obtain a glimpse of the fundamental nature of evolution – of the evolution of the cosmos as a whole, including the living world, and the world of human social society. To search out and systematically state these regularities is to engage in the creation of the “grand synthesis” that unites physcial, biological, and social evolution into a consistent frameword with its own laws and logic”

Om Laszlo:

Ervin Laszlo, holder of the highest degree of the Sorbonne (the State Doctorate), is recipient pf four Honorary Ph.D’s and numerous awards and distinctions, including the 2001 Goi Award (Japan Peace Prize. In 2004 he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize as well as the Templeton Prize. A former professor of philosophy, systems theory, and futures