11.08.09
The eonic effect, self-organization and the Altenberg group
Chomsky and The Altenberg 16
Mazur’s new book on The Altenberg 16 is worth reading and we will comment more here when the book is out in this country. But I should note a distinction between the good reportage in the book, and the prospects for a paradigm shift in biology beyond Darwinism, as intimated in this book. The latter doesn’t look promising at this point: these critics are too timid, and will try at best to pin their hopes on self-organization thinking which is not going to make much headway against the ID movement.
By the way: Ms. Mazur, the author of The Altenberg 16, inteviewed me briefly last year when I put a lot of her links on this blog. But since I am not one of the Atenberg 16 gang, there won’t be any mention of my work on the eonic effect in the book. A pity (although in one way I am glad: I want no part of any new establishment hype on evolution) because World History And The Eonic Effect gives a portrait of Self-Organization as evolution that outdoes anyone else on the subject, and it does that without trying as it proceeds in another direction. I am not a self-organization theorist, but the eonic is a spectacular portrait of self-organization, done right.
I hold the ace on the evolution issue: the eonic effect (not a theory) shows us all the pieces of the piuzzle, and what a puzzle it is!
The point here is that reductionist theories of self-organization such as we find in Stuart Kauffman, and Stuart Newman (in the book by Mazur) are still reductionist, and can’t say anything on human evolution, values, the evolution of ethics, and much else. So they don’t amount to much.
I am ambivalent here: I feel obligated to report on this crtics of Darwinism, but I think they are too embalmed in the academic/scientific world to successfully revolt against the Darwin establishment.
A paradigm shift toward self-organization won’t do the trick, and the ID gang will make short work of it.
Anyway, Mazur’s book is worth reading, and I will comment further later.