Genetic Atheism
We have had several friends pass away in recent times. I suppose this is not an unusual experience when one
reaches their mid-sixties. But it does focus the mind. One of Trish’s best and oldest friends was diagnosed with
cancer last fall and had a serious stroke several months ago. Last night we found out that her husband just had a
heart attack. They have had hospital beds installed in their home. Her sister is taking care of them; but she recently
broke her shoulder.
I have long thought that the age of retirement – which I define as the age when one is through with the responsibility
of raising children (not that it is ever truly over), and one does not have to work – is one of the most challenging
stages of life.
But I must go to the subject.
When I was young I was attracted to the Christian church, specifically the Presbyterian Church. I sang in the choir,
taught Sunday school when I was older, and found a non-threatening adolescent social life there. When I went
through catechism – the process of learning the beliefs of the church and then agreeing to them, I had to admit to
the pastor that while I was comfortable (at that time) with the concept of god, I just couldn’t bring myself to honestly
admit to believing in Jesus Christ; an individual who lived, committed miracles, and was literally the son of god. To
my surprise he told me that such a belief was not necessary to join the church! I joined. During my adult life I have
considered myself an agnostic, but was never comfortable with the term. It can mean one of two things.
1. A person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as God, and the essential nature of things are
unknown and unknowable or that human knowledge is limited to experience.
Or
2. A person who denies or doubts the possibility of ultimate knowledge
Both of these definitions of a philosophy, or even of a religion seem to be a cop out. They state what you do not
believe, but not what you do believe. “Atheism” had always seemed too strong a statement for me. It is the doctrine
or belief that there is no God. However, after studying genetics, with some modifications I have come to this
admittedly strong conclusion.
I title this philosophy “Genetic Atheism” – the belief that the ultimate cause of life can be explained scientifically,
specifically by using the sciences of genetics and chemistry.
I would like to distil and attempt to describe what I have learned and come to believe. In order to be succinct, I will
use absolute statements.
Events that took place before the origins of life are not included in this essay. Genetic Atheism does not account for
events before life began. Those events will have to remain in the realm of speculation along with any definitions of
concepts such as “time”.
Before life began our planet was a steaming stew of chemicals; at first the more simple elements. As the eons went
by this stew, exposed to various extreme conditions, changed, the elements interrelated and more complicated
elements and combinations of elements came into being. Some chemical combinations, or structures, became more
prevalent than others, and interacted with each other in symbiotic ways.
The big breakthrough came when one or more combinations were able to self replicate. These new entities evolved
from the mass of chemicals, and at one point took on the attributes we give to organisms we define as living matter.
The primary difference was replication. The process of replication and reproduction required using resources –
other chemicals, literally feeding off them and absorbing them.
Life took off and has never looked back. In the immensity of the primeval oceans living matter experimented and
changed – science calls progressive change evolution. Some chemical structures were more successful than others
in that they replicated more rapidly and dominated other chemicals that became the food chain. First one type
dominated, then another evolved and came to dominate in its turn, until other and even more successful structures
evolved. Many survived and branched off in different directions. Evolutionary niches were created, some became a
dead end, and others kept evolving and creating even more successfully breeding structures.
Some replicating chemical structures combined to create cells, a revolutionary way of organizing the relatively
primitive chemical structures in one symbiotic construction. Cells became the basic structural unit of all higher
organisms. Organisms joined together to form what we may call creatures, even larger forms and complicated of
life. As always, there was competition; some organisms survived and flourished, others died off and became extinct.
The creatures reacted to their environment, and to each other. These reactions in turn became more complicated
and sophisticated, to the point we may even describe there reaction to be “intelligent”. Intelligence was one of many
attributes that helped some species succeed in multiplying more than others. Other attributes such as size, tenacity,
strength, flexibility and durability were important, but the attribute of intelligence came to be a dominating
characteristic.
Humans are not necessarily at the “end” of the evolutionary ladder. They may very well prove to be a failure in the
long term. They have dominated for a very short time on the evolutionary scale and are far from proving their
success. In fact many observations of the world they have come to dominate indicate that the species will prove to
be a failure and follow the many others to extinction. Of course all species (form of life), indeed all life will eventually
come to an end.
It would be easy to branch off into what humans are doing to the environment, but that would be a digression. I
would rather end this description of how Genetic Atheism has brought us to where we now find ourselves, and go on
to how this philosophy explains and affects what we do with our lives.
Conclusions:
We are here as the current generation of one currently successful species “The now generation.” There is no
reason, just a chemical fact. Life has come about through experiments of different chemical reactions, reactions that
have proven successful at replication. Various forms of life have proven successful for different reasons, and all
forms of life have become dependent on others for their survival. We are no exception and no different from other
forms of life with the possible – probable – exception that we seem to be cognizant of the world and other living
organisms around us.
We are not here because we have been created by an all powerful entity we don’t really understand, namely a god.
There is no reason for any individual to exist, just as there is no reason for any species to exist, indeed there is no
reason for life to exist. Existence beyond that is beyond me.
As individuals we are simply bundles of chemicals that will exist for a finite amount of time. When we “die”, we will
cease to exist as a cognizant entity or unit. The elements that make up our physical bodies will survive though, and
they will go on interacting with other chemicals.
Our species has been successful due to habits that have evolved as the species has developed. I must emphasize
that these habits are not rules for individuals. They are habits that have evolved as the species has evolved over
time, behaviors that have enabled the species to endure. There is no reason for any individual to follow these
patterns just as there is no reason for any individual to exist at all.
Sex. First and foremost; like all other forms of life, we must replicate successfully. As with most relatively
complicated species we use sex to replicate. This means enables us to us evolve with and adjust to our
environment. Because sex is so vitally important to the success of our species, we have evolved a desire, in fact an
overpowering lust for sex.
Nurture. As intelligence is vital for our species success, and it takes time for an individual to be able to learn to use
its intelligence, we need to nurture our offspring. Because this takes a relatively long period of time it has a great
effect on the way we live as individuals.
Love. Many species replicate spontaneously with no need for relations other than the immediate sexual act.
Humans however, due to the need to nurture their offspring, have to develop a long term relationship with their
sexual partners. This concept has proven successful with other species as well. There may not be as many
offspring, but those that are created by the sexual act have a greater chance of survival to the age when they in turn
may replicate. It always comes back to replication. But who are we, just genetic cybers, but we always cry when we
lose a friend.
Age. One can conclude once an individual successfully replicates by creating offspring that are capable of
themselves replicating, there is no reason to continue living. At a simple level this is true. In some societies older
individuals contribute to the survival of the younger individuals, both those capable of replicating, and those that
have yet to reach that stage. But it is inescapable that at some point older individual become a burden on the
younger members of the species. Should they go out by themselves like elephants and just die? In most societies
the instinct to love seems to take precedence. Also there is a strong desire to exist in all individuals. If we did not
have this desire for individual preservation, the species would die off; indeed it never would have been successful.
This desire keeps our hearts beating, our lungs breathing. Of course there are many cases of individual suicide. A
question.
Other questions:
Art.
Creativity.
Definitions
Organism – A specific creature that has a finite existence and is capable of procreation.
Procreation – The act of reproduction, usually through sexual means.
