Civilization and Science
One of the foundations of civilization is the acceptance of reason - that is, using our conscious awareness to make logical deductions and inferences. This awareness - as Aristotle understood - is primarily the awareness of our physical senses. Reason enables us to recognize patterns in the external world, and this recognition forms the basis of understanding - that is, of increasing our own consciousness of things which are beyond us, as individuals, both in time and in distance. The patterns which are recognized are accepted on the basis that they have been observed, and so verified, and on the fact that they are repeated in Nature, or can be repeated by us through an experiment. These patterns form the basis for theories which basically make connections between what were hitherto regarded as disparate events or observations: they attempt to explain the prime cause of the events or observations.
The expansion of consciousness which results from this is an expansion both for the individual or individuals who discover such patterns, and for civilization itself. That is, there is a transmission of the understanding which results. This expansion of consciousness based on reason and observation, and this transmission, is Science, or more correctly experimental Science - what used to be called Natural Philosophy.
In the simple sense, this understanding creates - or can
create - a new perspective for us which transcends both our
immediate surroundings and our own life.
This process of reason, experimentation, and transmission requires the ordered, fairly stable, society which is civilization. Civilization itself is an ordered way of living where certain personal values are upheld as ideals, and where there is a striving for both personal and civic excellence. Chief among these personal values is honour. In essence, reason is an adjunct to, and a development of, personal honour - the desire to be fair, to judge, to know, to understand, made real. Honour primarily concerns people; whereas the application of reason primarily concerns the external world of Nature and the cosmos. A man of honour will not judge someone without personal knowledge, and so will not listen to rumours about someone - for that is dishonourable; rather, he will seek to ask the person himself. In the same way, the true scientist, applying reason to the external world, will seek to observe that world directly, and will not accept any 'evidence' which cannot be personally verified (usually through an experiment).
This use of reason which is Science brings technology - the
skills of engineering, and the development of machines, for
instance - and this practical application of Science enables the
further development of civilization and the understanding it
brings.
Evolution and The Theory of Darwin
It should be understand at the outset of this enquiry that: (1) the theory of evolution is a theory, which has been postulated on the basis of what has been observed, or discovered; (2) that what is called Darwin's theory of evolution primarily concerns the development of life on this planet, including our own human species, into separate species; and (3) that both the general theory of evolution (concerning, for example, the geological changes which Earth has undergone) and Darwin's theory to do with natural evolution were based upon practical observation.
In respect of Darwin's theory, his observations led him to postulate several causes for what he observed, and these postulates are scientific in the sense that they can be deduced from the evidence and are based upon natural reason - that is, on a belief that it is natural forces, acting over periods of time, which cause geological and biological change.
But Darwin's theory is still a theory - a working model to explain observations. The evidence we have suggests it is a plausible theory, on scientific grounds. If the theory is rejected, then some other explanation for what is observed in the natural world must be advanced. It should be remembered that Darwin built upon foundations laid over many centuries concerning the origin of species - that is, the development of living beings into distinct species and sub-species, called races. His theory is an attempt to explain how the observed variation came about in a natural way consistent with the evolution of the Earth, and life on Earth.
An alternative theory should explain this development of
species for life on this planet - and explain how we ourselves
came to be what we are now.
Logically, there are only three reasonable possibilities
regarding how we human beings came to be as we are - with our
morality, our honour, our ability to reason; our ability to be
aware of ourselves as individuals, aware of others and the
external world.
First, there was a slow change, a slow development, from our animal ancestors, as posited by Darwin. Second, that there has been some kind of intervention in this evolution, either by advanced beings (probably of extra-terrestrial origin) or some sort of divinity ('God'). Third, that we did not originate on this planet, but came from elsewhere - that we ourselves are extra-terrestrial beings.
The second and third explanations are also theories, like Darwin's. However, there are few observations to support them, and the few which have been advanced in support of either theory can also be interpreted in other ways - that is, in accord with natural development and not divine or extra-terrestrial involvement. Darwin's theory simple has more evidence to support it than either of these competing theories.
Thus, on the basis of what is observed, what is known - and on the basis of accepting that change is natural, that is caused by Nature - Darwin's theory is a more rational, more scientific explanation than any other which has been advanced, either in modern times or ancient times. His theory is simply more plausible, more rational, than all the others. It explains what is observed in a logical way.
Of course, they may well be a better theory, waiting to be advanced. And if it is based upon observation, and if it explains what is observed in a logical way, then it will be accepted by those who - like myself - seek to understand the world and the cosmos on the basis of reason.
We either accept explanations on the basis of reason -
explanations arrived at through observation, experiment and logic
- or we accept explanations about the world and the cosmos on the
basis of belief, or supposition, or speculation. A speculation, a
religious supposition may be true - that is, it may be the
correct explanation of events - but one either lives, or
strives to live, one's life on the basis of reason, or one does
not.
An Important Distinction
It must be understood that acceptance of the theory of evolution, as it applies to us as human beings, does not mean we are "merely animals" and totally at the mercy of those natural forces which have shaped evolution, and which some consider to be "anti-cultural".
For what is of supreme importance is that our development of consciousness - and the subsequent expansion of consciousness through Science - enables us to creatively intervene in our own evolution. That is, it is this development of consciousness, and understanding, which enables us to appreciate Nature, civilization, culture, the cosmos, and continue our evolution in a positive way.
We can do this because we possess the power to change ourselves through using our will. This, essentially, is what civilization, honour, and reason mean. Real culture - the living or organic culture of ethnic identity with its own ethos - is a means to aid this development of will, this promotion of a supra-personal and numinous understanding. Such culture vitalizes, through a sense of identity and Destiny - through an understanding of the individual being a nexus between the past and the future of their culture.
Those who deny evolution, deny the triumph of the will that has made civilization possible, and which can make possible our further evolution. We are no longer just animals because we possess not only consciousness but also the ability to use our will to change ourselves in a positive way through upholding noble ideals. Mere animals do not have this option. We have evolved, in accord with the laws of Nature, to be beings who have consciousness and will - and we have developed civilization because of this
This does not mean to say that all humans, everywhere and in all times, use their will. On the contrary, only a percentage do and have done. Civilization is simply a means which enables us to do this - which encourages us to do this and makes this an ideal to be striven for.
This understanding of the evolution and importance of
consciousness - of the importance of culture and will - is an
extension of Darwin's theory of natural selection, not a
contradiction of it. Without Darwin's theory, this understanding
would not have been possible.
Divergence of Evolution
Contrary to what some believe, the theory of Darwin does not endorse multi-cultural equality. Rather, the opposite because it is an explanation of how the ethnic divisions we observe around us came to be as they are. It quite clearly states that these divisions are real, and the result of Nature. Furthermore, it can be argued that it is reasonable to deduce from the few pieces of evidence we have that our evolution from Erectus to Sapiens took place in different places at different times. That is, the diversion into separate races occurred quite early, and that some of the proto-races crossed the threshold to become Sapiens before others.
Thus, it is reasonable to deduce that some races have evolved
further than other races, and that consequently these races
possessed skills and ways which others did not possess, or if
they did, to a lesser degree. One of these skills may be
said to be the ability to be creative - to invent and discover
things.
Anti-Darwinian Diatribes
It is becoming fashionable in certain political and philosophical circles to criticize Darwin's theory on the basis that it is anti-numinous, anti-cultural and anti-spiritual. However, such conclusions are based on either a mis-understanding of Darwin's theory or on mis-use of his scientific ideas by those who themselves did not understand them and their consequences.
The most fundamental mis-understanding is to consider that Darwin's theory means and implies - infers - that we human beings are only animals, subject to a brutal struggle for existence. I repeat - Darwin's theory is fundamentally about the origin of species - it is an explanation of how diverse species and sub-species came into being. It is concerned with the past development of life on this planet.
Darwin's theory is not fundamentally concerned with our own recent development (in terms of geological time). This recent development of ours is when we have developed consciousness, and the ability to change ourselves by using our will - that is, by developing a strong, a noble, character. This recent development spans perhaps the last twenty thousand years - and that is all. Twenty thousand years out of fifty to an hundred million.
The inferences which have been drawn from Darwin's theory
about our present existence, as human beings, are simply wrong -
but such incorrect inferences do not invalidate the basis of the
theory itself. What is needed is to extend Darwin's theory to
explain the development of consciousness: to explain the last ten
to twenty thousand years with the emergence of civilization.
Consciousness and Evolution
There is one modern philosophical movement which has added to our understanding of evolution and consciousness, and which has thus built upon Darwin's work. This is the National-Socialism of Adolf Hitler.
The essence of what Adolf Hitler taught was that our own evolution, as human beings, has only just begun and that we can and should continue it in accord with Nature and so create a higher, more evolved, race of beings. The foundations of National-Socialism are ethnic diversity and personal character. Ethnic diversity is considered to be a natural development which has produced peoples with distinct ways of life - a distinct ethos - with these peoples requiring a society which is in balance with Nature in order to be healthy. Such peoples are bound together by this ethos, an outward expression of which is a sense of Destiny. Personal character is considered to be formed through struggle - through overcoming: through a Triumph of personal Will. To achieve this triumph of the will there must be numinous ideals and a numinous ethos, which the principle ideals being those of personal honour and duty to the folk.
Thus National-Socialism seeks the creation of separate ethnic homelands where a folk can live in accord with their unique customs, as it seeks to create a society where Blood and Soil is balanced with Conquest and Exploration, Fundamentally, National-Socialism explains the origins of civilization and shows how civilization was and is a natural development of Nature which has fundamentally changed us - accelerating our evolution.