A UNIFYING CONCEPT IN BIOLOGY

Remarkably, philosopher Bertrand Russell[1] wrote the following last two sentences in his book Understanding History over fifty years ago at a time in history when almost all people considered mind and matter as two distinct things. There is therefore some reason—though by no means conclusive reason—for regarding the laws of physics as, in a sense, controlling our mental life. This is a large part of what Materialists have contended, and this part of the contention may be true.

I found this remark to be fundamental to accepting the idea that there may be a biological unifying concept. Physicists have been toying for years with the idea that there is a unifying concept. The duality of a spiritual world and a physical world seemed irreconcilable as long as the controlling influence of mentality resided in some imaginary spiritual world. The logic of Russell’s conclusion in support of materialists seems irrevocable. The “big bang” resulted from the transformation of energy into material—at least that is my interpretation of what physicists are saying. No one can tell me what E=MC² really means in terms of what the first form of material would be when energy changes into material as the formula states. If someone did explain it to me, I probably would not really understand it. I chose to believe that the material that resulted from the big bang was the universe and everything that is in it. In the pre the idea that sent context, it means that nothing was added—no spirits or goblins only that that has weight and occupies space.

So, I say to Bertrand, I don’t agree with much of what you wrote but you did a good job in suggesting what may control our mental life. It does not explain a lot but it opens the door for biologists to explain both physical and mental biopoiesis in a unified and empirical way.

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[1] Bertrand Russell: Understanding History; and other Essays. Philosophical Library, 1957

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