Creative Evolution: A Physicist's Resolution Between Darwinism and Intelligent Design

It’s an open secret that fossil gaps—discontinuities in fossil lineages—threaten the validity of Darwin’s theory of evolution. At the same time, by denying evolution altogether, intelligent-design thinkers fly in the face of scientific data. But let’s not throw out the babies with the bathwater, says quantum physicist Amit Goswami. The idea of intelligent design does contain substance with which neo-Darwinists must come to terms. And if Darwin’s theory is seen at best as incomplete, able only to explain evolution’s continuous epochs, then there’s room for both evolution and God. Dr. Goswami’s central theme is that pure consciousness, not matter, is the primary force in the universe. This view differs radically from mainstream theories that see evolution as the result of simple physical reactions. It also differs from intelligent-design arguments that posit a clockmaker God who fabricated the universe. Biology, Dr. Goswami says, must come to terms with feeling, meaning and the purposefulness of life. The key is the idea of creativity in biological development, which reconciles evolution with intelligent design by a purposive designer. Hence, the book’s title: Creative Evolution. What’s more, when the question of life’s purposefulness and the existence of the designer is reconciled with neo-Darwinism, other difficulties of biology are resolved. The result is a paradigm shift for biology and the vision of a coherent whole that the author calls "Science within Consciousness." In light of the current culture wars over this topic, Dr. Goswami’s view is not only radical and relevant but highly charged, and it promises to remain so for the foreseeable future.

About the author: Amit Goswami, Ph.D., was born in India and raised in the Hindu tradition. He earned his Ph.D. from Calcutta University in theoretical nuclear physics in 1964 and is professor emeritus in the physics department at the University of Oregon, in Eugene, Oregon, where he has served since 1968. He taught physics for 32 years in this country, mostly in Oregon, before fully retiring in 2003. Goswami was a senior scholar in residence at the Institute of Noetic Sciences during 1998-2000. He teaches quite regularly at the Holmes Institute and the Philosophical Research University in L.A.; Pacifica in Santa Barbara, CA; and UNIPAZ in Portugal. Goswami is a pioneer of the new multidisciplinary paradigm of science based on the primacy of consciousness called "Science within Consciousness," as well as the author of the highly successful textbook,Quantum Mechanics. His two-volume textbook for nonscientists,The Physicist's View of Nature, traces the decline and rediscovery of the concept of God within science. His research has been published in scientific journals in three different fields: physics, biology, and psychology. Goswami has also written eight popular books based on his research on quantum physics and consciousness. In his seminal book,The Self-Aware Universe, he solved the quantum measurement problem elucidating the famous observer effect while paving the path to a new paradigm of science based on the primacy of consciousness. Subsequently, inThe Visionary Window, Goswami demonstrates how science and spirituality can be integrated. InPhysics of the Soul,he developed a theory of survival after death and reincarnation. His bookQuantum Creativityis a tour de force instruction about how to engage in both outer and inner creativity. Goswami's last book,The Quantum Doctor, integrates conventional and alternative medicines. In his private life, Goswami is a practitioner of spirituality and transformation. He refers to himself as a "quantum activist." The public knows Goswami perhaps the best since his leading role in last year’s hit independent film,What the Bleep Do We Know!?He has also appeared on numerous radio talk shows, includingNew DimensionsandThinking Allowed.Goswami currently resides in Eugene, Oregon.