My Philosophy
By James Keele
April 18, 1999
My name is James Keele. I want to express my gratitude for this opportunity to speak some of my deeper beliefs before such a capable audience. I have been a member of this congregation for fourteen years and I am a regular attendee of the Philosophy class, which meets here every two weeks on a Wednesday morning. I have a lot of appreciation for that class as we will discuss what we really think, no holds barred. I have worked as an electrical engineer for many years so you might say my background leans in the scientific area. I have but a few minutes so I shall get to my points immediately, without further introduction.
Some time ago I was hiking with Anne up to Hamilton Mesa from Iron Gate in the Pecos Wilderness. We stopped to rest and sat on a rock overlooking a huge canyon. We saw a hawk or falcon lazily circling the Sky below in the canyon. I said to Anne. "You know I believe that nature did not intend for men to work eight hours a day." Anne replied, "I believe that nature has no intentions." I thought about that and came to the same conclusion as she. Only a mind or brain can have intention or purpose and the complex brain as humans have did not come into earthly existence until several 100 thousand years ago. So prior to the evolution of the brain there was no intention or purpose in nature (I'm jumping from nature to evolution here) and even today there is still no intention or purpose behind evolution, except what man does in genetic engineering. Evolution is a set of natural laws that are just working. The main evolutionary principles are: 1) Mutations or changes occur in reproduction cycles. 2) Those changes that have survival value survive, and those that don't die off. There is no "intention" or "purpose" involved in any of this. It just is. The preponderance of scientific evidence supports evolutionary theory, not creationism. I do not believe in a divine creator or some mystical power that has a "purpose" or "intention" for me or anybody else. All actions and things are allowed by nature, but all actions and things do not necessarily lead to survival. Our brain was evolved because it helped us survive, not necessarily for intellectual contemplation that seems to be a by-product of it.
Another thing I believe is that the laws of nature are the same throughout the universe. There is no special place in the universe where the laws of nature are different than what we observe here. You might call this a faith. There are according to cosmology about 100 billion stars in our galaxy, and there are about 100 billion observable galaxies in the universe. Therefore, the probability that life exists on planets elsewhere in the universe, in some form, is very high, almost a certainty. It will different from us because we have evolved to fit the environment that is provided for us by our earth that may or may not be unique. Earth does not have the sole claim for the evolution of life. Whatever their environment is, they will have evolved to fit it. The chances are is that we have not been visited by extraterrestrial beings or will be unless it is from our own solar system. The nearest star is about four light years away and science has not, to my knowledge, come up with a speed of travel greater than the speed of light. I say this to dispel myths and beliefs that are prevalent in Santa Fe in the New Age religion.
Speaking of the idea of beliefs, religions, and myths: I believe that they and cultures have evolved to help humans survive, that they have had survival value in that it helps hold a tribe, community of people, nation together, if they have similar beliefs. I belief our brains have evolved the propensity to believe because that makes us part of a community where we can feel safer. Therefore, I do not condemn other people's belief, unless of course, their belief condemns me. It is helpful for me view other humans with their selfishness, greediness, untrustworthiness, and other undesirable characteristics as normal and I can have the same kind of compassion for them as I would another animal such as a dog or cow and not take their actions too seriously. For we have evolved as an animal. But don't let others stomp on you. -- We love our illusions. Jesus, help me get through this day. One day at a time Dear Lord Jesus. Maybe we need our illusions sometimes to make life bearable. The question Will Durant poses: Do we need religion to prevent social chaos?
Another point I wish to make is that life feeds on life. As carnivorous and herbal animals, we eat so many cows and so many plants in our lifetime and eventually our bodies will go back to the soil to nourish other plants and animals. If what we are is such a marvel, then that marvel has taken evolution and nature millions of years to create. To make it sustainable we must eat other life. That is just the way it is. About 100 million years ago Dinosaurs dominated the earth for a much longer period of time than we humans have been around. Now there was a nasty creature and we evolved from the reptiles, the same family as the dinosaurs. We want to disguise this fact and give ourselves a divine origin. But that was what it took to create us. Our creation was a messy thing. Not a clean thing like the waving of a wan. I am grateful for this life such as it is and if there is a miracle that I marvel at, it is the life that evolution has wrought.
Evolution is impartial. It does not care whether we survive as dinosaurs or as humans or that we even survive. The human brain evolved to the detriment of other animals and earth life forms. In the long run it may be a nemesis to the human species. Our rapid development of technology is currently causing us to ravage our environment. It may be that another animal in the long run ends up as the survivor: like the roach. We should not take our being special too seriously. Evolution has worked its creations over billions of years. Millions of species have come and gone. The human brain is being tested now. By chance it may fail or by intellect it may prevail. Life on this planet may not prevail. An asteroid may come down a wipe us all out. Eventually the earth and all its life will not prevail. Therefore life's meaning is short-term. Morality is the use of the brain to make life more of a quality thing than a barbaric thing such as what is going on in Kosovo today.
As far as evolution goes, there is nothing special about the time we live in, except for you and me. There is nothing special about the earth except we live there. There is nothing special about the close of this millennium. The clock will turn over and the days will be very similar to the ones we have just lived. We have created being special, morality, spiritualism, laws, government, the idea of progress, and religions in our minds, our brains. They exist as thought patterns like the software in a computer.
I am not advocating doom and gloom, but quite the opposite. I am advocating the hope that if we can arrive at the truth of who we are, where we came from, we can help live happier lives as well as the creatures that coexist with us. By and large I live a joyful life and I am grateful for it. Be grateful for what is, this earth is our heaven and evolution was what it took to create our lives. The music you here in this church building on Sunday mornings is about as close to heavenly music as you will ever hear. There is enough wonder in the natural laws of nature without having to create supernatural laws.
It's time I wind this speech down so I shall leave with a note about our philosophy class and the UU Church here in Santa Fe.
The philosophy class is place where we discuss books of philosophical ideas, science, biology, ethics, intellectual ideas, etc. A purpose of it is to find out who we really are as Chris Mechels as so apply expressed. Philosophy is the love of wisdom and is becoming a diminishing field as science replaces the study of the unknown. The class means a lot to me and is not only a place for the discussion of ideas, but also a place for community with people of similar interest. My hat goes off for all you members of the philosophy class.
The UU church here in Santa Fe provides for me a setting where I grow as a human. It's main function for me is that it provides me with a sense of community and a with a place where I can exercise my primitive desires for religion and life's aspirations. I am grateful I live in a culture and have a church where I can speak my beliefs freely and without worry of suppression.
This ends my short speech. Thank you for listening.