Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia;  Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.

Creative Evolution
An alternate explanation for Darwin's mechanism of evolution
Henri Bergson (1911)

Nature as the realization of a plan. “Natural mathematics”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Evolution_(book)

   Post 95. August 04, 2019

  Vital Force

   EnFormAction  

 The french philosopher Henri Bergson concluded that, otherwise random, biological evolution must be impelled and guided by some unknown force to eventually produce living and thinking beings. In his 1911 book, Creative Evolution, he called his hypothetical compulsion : Elan Vital (life force). Although he had no empirical evidence to support his theory, it was clear to him that there is no mechanistic or materialistic explanation for the emergence of Life and Mind. So, he simply gave a name to the set of unknown causes contributing to evolutionary biology, which he hoped would stimulate a search for the ultimate cause of rational animals. In keeping with Darwin’s theory though, Bergson avoided claiming any specific teleological goal1, describing the evolutionary force as “aimless” & “meandering”, but somehow adapting itself to current conditions via natural selection.

A century later, we now have more information about the steps leading up to the birth of Life from non-living matter. And that is the subject of biological anthropologist Terrence Deacon’s book : Incomplete Nature2. He has concluded that ordinary information can be causal. But, he calls it “causal absence”, hence the difficulty in finding physical evidence of it, apart from its consequences. My inference from his theory is that generic Information begins as physical energy, transforms into matter, then eventually emerges from complex inter-actions of energy & matter as the metaphysical phenomena Life and Mind. He doesn’t give that creative Information a name, but I call it EnFormAction.3

Bergson’s mysterious Life Force theory was berated by materialists, in part because it seemed closer to ancient mystical concepts of Western Spirit & Soul, Chinese Chi (Qi), and Hindu Prana than to a scientific theory. Yet, there is certainly something happening in the world that has intrigued and mystified all cultures of the world. In fact, it a common feature of the real world, and is no more mystical than invisible intangible Energy, which we also know only by its effects. The difference is that scientists can quantify energy according to measurements of physical changes in matter. The conse-quences of EnFormAction are more subtle, and hard to measure. However, Life Force is similar to Energy in that it causes change in a certain direction. In the case of natural & cultural evolution, toward ever more complex biology with non-physical traits of intellect. Raw Energy imparts motion to matter. But, like DNA, encoded Enformation gives matter its form, and in some cases, its life.

We seem to be getting closer to being able to measure the changes caused by Enformation. Claude Shannon defined Information mathematically and devised a way to measure it quantitatively as a degree of statistical uncertainty. Then Terrence Deacon proposed to measure its life-sustaining qualities in terms of homeostasis (positive feedback loops). Perhaps the novel notion of generic Information as a Vital Force in the world, will take us to the next level of under-standing. My EnFormAction is similar in outline to Elan Vital, but is completely natural in its means and effects. It could be interpreted mystically, but that is not my intention. Although there are still many known & unknown-unknowns, the ubiqui-tous role of Information in the world is becoming clearer. 

End of Post 95             

1. Teleological Destiny :
   T. DeChardin assumed that something, perhaps the Holy Spirit, was moving the world closer & closer to an end state that he called the Omega Point. It viewed creation as an ongoing process. Bergson’s meander-ing force though seems to have no particular goal.
   I don’t know what the destination is, but it’s clear that the Earth and Universe will someday end, and that evolution is progressing in a positive direction.

2. Deacon Information :
   Incomplete Nature :
How Mind Emerged from Matter.
See Blog Post 80.
http://bothandblog4.enformationism.info/page26.html

3. EnFormAction :
   Goal-directed (cybernetic) energy. Evolution is not necessarily Teleological, but Medio-logical (cultural transmission of information).
   It’s driven, not to a preset final form (Omega Point), but exploring a variety of forms, and selecting some by both initial settings and also criteria set by the local environment (media).  It’s a dialectical process.

•  “It is the idea of an original vital principle. If there is a telos to life, then, it must be situated at the origin and not at the end . . . “
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/bergson/

• In French, “Elan” means enthusiasm, ardor, spirit or style. So, elan vital means spirit-of-life, living-spirit, or life-force. Most languages, use invisible, but powerful “Wind” as a metaphor for its forcefulness, and “Breath” for its life-giving quality.  

• I suspect that “The Force” in Star Wars movies was loosely based on Bergson’s Elan Vital : an all-encompassing field of energy that spiritual people (Jedis) can tap into for a power boost, enabling them to perform magic and miracles.
https://kundalinijeditraining.com/the-force

Intelligent Evolution :
   It’s similar to what Bergson called Creative Evolution, except that the raw power (energy) is controlled by a goal-directed program (cybernetic).
http://gnomon.enformationism.info/Intelligent Evolution.pdf

Elan Vital
The Life Force

Now is the time