Cultural origins beyond sociobiology

Each generation, each era, makes better intuitive and scientific guesses at explaining the purpose in life and our reason for being here, with occasional backward lapses. We have seen that material life has evolved from the frog to man, and it seems that life can continue to evolve from man to superman, and eventually to Godhood, enhanced or blocked by culture or the environment.

Nature employs myths, religion, art to help us survive better, as sociobiology explains, to seduce man into helping nature survive. I think these worldviews are more than guesses at why we are here for the sake of curiosity, and more than devices for calming the terrors and insecurities of life, which they also do.

One of the greatest contributions of Aristotle was the idea that motion is caused by incomplete entities striving for completion and perfection. This helps reaffirm the root definition of the activating Spirit-Will with the Spirit-Will activating material life toward Godhood from within while being shaped by evolution from without.

I see evolution moving inevitably in a pattern, even though it has its random elements, and the pattern has a discernible direction, in spite of instances of stagnation and retreat, toward “higher and higher more effective living forms,” as Cattell put it. The goal of evolving to Godhood need not deprive us of either science or religion. This end goal is still viewed as a fiction by science, but such scientists as Francis Heylighen are beginning to show through science how evolution tends to produce more complex systems, gradually adding more levels to the hierarchy.

There is more to life than sociobiology has so far explained, culture can be seen as more than illusions to help life survive, there is an activation of material life by the indwelling Spirit-Will within life to drive life toward the goal of evolving to Godhood, which is the deepest place where authentic myths, religion and art come from.