From: mk_thisisit
Molecular Darwinism is considered a key element in the evolution of the world [00:00:00]. While traditional understanding of natural selection focuses on living systems, this concept extends the principles of evolution to the molecular level [03:50:00].
Evolution of the Human Brain
Our brains, like all creatures on Earth, exist due to survival, operating on the principle of the survival of the fittest [01:33:00]. Human brains evolved to find patterns in the environment, which provided an advantage in the struggle for existence by allowing prediction of future events [02:00:00]. This ability, initially for survival (e.g., finding food, shelter, avoiding predators), expanded beyond essential needs as humans began to conquer the natural world [02:44:00]. It now allows for understanding complex phenomena like planetary patterns, atomic structures, or black hole accretion disks [02:56:00].
Molecular Natural Selection
The mechanism of natural selection also operates at the molecular level [04:19:00].
- Replication: Molecules can have “offspring” or successors by learning to replicate themselves [04:24:00].
- Mutation: No copying process is perfect, leading to mutations—slightly different molecules [04:37:00].
- Competition: Mutations that aid the process of creating further replicants spread widely [04:44:00]. Molecular demographics are dominated by molecules that can reproduce faster, more efficiently, and with greater stability [04:52:00].
- Improvement: Molecules engage in a “chemical battle,” leading to the creation of improved molecules that ultimately form living systems [05:01:00].
Entropy and Cosmic Evolution
Evolution and entropy are the main forces influencing cosmic evolution [06:42:00].
- Entropy: Represents a drive towards increasing chaos or disorder [06:53:00]. Every physical process (with very few exceptions) results in an increase in entropy [05:22:00]. Entropy measures the number of ways a system can be arranged; more arrangements mean higher entropy [05:36:00].
- Evolution: Represents a drive towards more refined systems that can replicate themselves with greater efficiency [06:56:00].
These two forces appear to be at opposite ends of the spectrum, with entropy pulling towards disorder and evolution towards order [07:07:00]. However, in the long term, entropy ultimately prevails [07:22:00].
The Heat Death of the Universe
According to current mathematical equations describing the laws of the universe, every ordered system will eventually disintegrate [07:36:00].
- Stars exhaust their nuclear fuel and turn into diffuse masses [07:48:00].
- Black holes, as taught by Stephen Hawking, emit radiation and eventually dissolve into a sea of particles [08:04:00].
This means that any system that can manifest order will eventually disintegrate into a disordered end product [08:35:00].
Thoughts and Entropy
If thoughts are considered physical processes, each thought contributes to an increase in entropy [01:08:00], [04:40:00], [18:02:00]. Energy is used in these processes, and while the amount of energy remains constant, it degrades into less useful forms, which is understood as entropy [18:13:13]. In the distant future, when the universe’s temperature drops, it will no longer be able to absorb this generated entropy [19:13:00]. At that point, a thinking being’s further thoughts would lead to it burning up in its own entropic waste, signifying the end of all thinking [19:35:00]. Human beings, like any other living system or physical process, generate entropy [19:48:00].
Consciousness and Free Will
The “Hard Problem” of Consciousness
The “hard problem” of consciousness is understanding how subjective experiences and self-awareness emerge from collections of molecules, atoms, and systems, if individual particles lack an internal world [09:29:00]. Some suggest that particles themselves might possess a “proto-consciousness” [10:12:00]. While this idea is not universally convincing, no one can definitively explain how a collection of “mindless” particles gains consciousness [10:40:00].
Consciousness is generally viewed as an emergent phenomenon when particles, molecules, and atoms are arranged in a sufficiently coherent way [11:34:00]. Quantum physics is fundamental to the behavior of physical objects, including those that form the brain and consciousness [12:43:00]. However, there’s no direct evidence that the structure of quantum mechanics necessarily leads to the emergence of consciousness in the way some theories, like Roger Penrose’s, suggest [13:08:00].
The Question of Free Will
If consciousness is ultimately reducible to physical, biological, and chemical processes, then the conclusion is that there is no free will [14:26:00], [00:32:00]. This perspective is considered sad but also liberating [14:49:00]. The argument is that if the components of consciousness are governed by the laws of physics, then individuals cannot interfere with the deterministic course of these particles [14:53:00].
Classical physics posits that initial conditions and physical laws fully determine future outcomes [15:45:00]. Quantum physics, while still deterministic, predicts probabilities of future states, not certain outcomes [16:16:00]. Therefore, while free will may not exist, one cannot predict with 100% certainty what someone will do, only the probabilities [17:14:00].
The Nature of Truth
Truth can be categorized into two main types:
- Objective Truth: Relates to the properties of the external world, described by mathematical approaches like general relativity or quantum mechanics, which aim to capture the truth about universal physical processes [20:05:00].
- Subjective (Internal) Truth: Consists of personal beliefs, values, and things that deeply matter to an individual [20:47:00]. These are fundamental to an individual but are not necessarily agreed upon by everyone as universal truths [21:11:00]. A clear distinction between these two categories is crucial [21:38:00].
Mathematics: Invented or Discovered?
Most mathematicians believe that mathematical concepts exist independently and are discovered [22:13:00]. However, an alternative view suggests that mathematics is a language invented by humans to quantitatively and precisely grasp observations in the world [22:48:00]. Theorems and proofs emerge within this invented language and have no meaning outside of it [23:32:00]. Concepts like triangles, lines, or right angles are human inventions used to describe features of the world [23:56:00]. The validity of mathematics is based on its resonance within a mind that can understand it; without thinking structures, mathematical theorems would cease to “exist” [24:47:00].
Religion
Physics can allow for the existence of God, but there is no observational data or evidence to prove it [25:31:00]. The idea that God might have hidden His role or left clues only for religious figures is not considered a credible approach to understanding the world [26:16:00].
Religion is viewed as a beautiful and spectacular invention of the human mind [27:43:00]. It addresses fundamental human needs, especially the fear of mortality, by offering a narrative where death is a stage in a larger story [27:48:00]. This provides a powerful way to alleviate existential fear [28:03:00]. William James’s work on religious experience highlights how religion meets certain human needs and serves functions for individuals grappling with the insignificance of human existence in the vast cosmos [28:33:00].