Not to step on anyone's toes -- but after I stumbled upon this chain of references it should be noted these connections have been made elsewhere (post by Jacob4Jesus), but perhaps deserve another push.
Many people have commented on Jacob reading "Everything That Rises Must Converge" by Flannery O'Connor... a quick search will tell you what the book is about, im sure you've already done the link tracking through wikipedia yourself but:
"The title Everything That Rises Must Converge refers to an underlying religious message central to her work- aiming to expose the sinful nature of humanity that often goes unrecognized in the modern, secular world."
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But here's the deeper reference if you haven't already dipped into it:
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The title of the collection and of the short story of the same name is taken from a passage from the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
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A quick search will reveal this nugget:
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"Teilhard studied what he called the rise of spirit, or evolution of consciousness, in the universe. He believed it to be observable and verifiable in a simple law he called the Law of Complexity/Consciousness. This law simply states that there is an inherent compulsion in matter to arrange itself in more complex groupings, exhibiting higher levels of consciousness. The more complex the matter, the more conscious it is"...
"The universe, he argued, strives towards higher consciousness, and does so by arranging itself into more complex structures."
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Jacob's optimistic view explained anyone? Here's the long bit of it:
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"Teilhard... proposed another level of consciousness, to which human beings belong, because of their cognitive ability; i.e. their ability to 'think'. Human beings, Teilhard argued, represent the layer of consciousness which has "folded back in upon itself", and has become self-conscious. "
"So in addition to the geosphere and the biosphere, Teilhard posited another sphere, which is the realm of human beings, the realm of reflective thought: the noosphere."
...
In the noosphere Teilhard believed the same Law of Complexity/Consciousness to be at work, although not in a way previously seen. He argued that ever since human-beings first came into existence 200,000 years ago, the Law of Complexity/Conscious began to run on a different (higher) plane. Consciousness in the universe, he argued, now continues to rise in the complex arrangement and unification of mankind on earth. As human beings converge around the earth, he reasoned, unifying themselves in ever more complex forms of arrangement, consciousness will rise.
Finally, the keystone to his phenomenology is that because Teilhard could not explain why the universe would move in the direction of more complex arrangements and higher consciousness, he postulated that there must exist ahead of the moving universe, and pulling it along, a higher pole of supreme consciousness, which he called Omega Point.
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AHH -- the Omega Point. Here's a pretty picture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Vision_of_Teilhard-de-Chardin.png
Interesting results for Omega Point:
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In this theory, the universe is constantly developing towards higher levels of material complexity and consciousness, a theory of evolution that Teilhard called the Law of Complexity/Consciousness. For Teilhard, the universe can only move in the direction of more complexity and consciousness if it is being drawn by a supreme point of complexity and consciousness. Thus Teilhard postulates the Omega Point as the supreme point of complexity and consciousness, which is not only as the term of the evolutionary process, but is also the actual cause for the universe to grow in complexity and consciousness. In other words, the Omega Point exists as supremely complex and conscious, independent of the evolving universe. I.e., the Omega Point is transcendent. In interpreting the universe this way, Teilhard kept the Omega Point within the orthodox views of the Christian God, who is transcendent (independent) of his creation.
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This is totally consistent with Jacob's message of progress.
To be continued.....
Many people have commented on Jacob reading "Everything That Rises Must Converge" by Flannery O'Connor... a quick search will tell you what the book is about, im sure you've already done the link tracking through wikipedia yourself but:
"The title Everything That Rises Must Converge refers to an underlying religious message central to her work- aiming to expose the sinful nature of humanity that often goes unrecognized in the modern, secular world."
/////////////////////
But here's the deeper reference if you haven't already dipped into it:
/////////////////////
The title of the collection and of the short story of the same name is taken from a passage from the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
/////////////////////
A quick search will reveal this nugget:
/////////////////////
"Teilhard studied what he called the rise of spirit, or evolution of consciousness, in the universe. He believed it to be observable and verifiable in a simple law he called the Law of Complexity/Consciousness. This law simply states that there is an inherent compulsion in matter to arrange itself in more complex groupings, exhibiting higher levels of consciousness. The more complex the matter, the more conscious it is"...
"The universe, he argued, strives towards higher consciousness, and does so by arranging itself into more complex structures."
/////////////////////
Jacob's optimistic view explained anyone? Here's the long bit of it:
/////////////////////
"Teilhard... proposed another level of consciousness, to which human beings belong, because of their cognitive ability; i.e. their ability to 'think'. Human beings, Teilhard argued, represent the layer of consciousness which has "folded back in upon itself", and has become self-conscious. "
"So in addition to the geosphere and the biosphere, Teilhard posited another sphere, which is the realm of human beings, the realm of reflective thought: the noosphere."
...
In the noosphere Teilhard believed the same Law of Complexity/Consciousness to be at work, although not in a way previously seen. He argued that ever since human-beings first came into existence 200,000 years ago, the Law of Complexity/Conscious began to run on a different (higher) plane. Consciousness in the universe, he argued, now continues to rise in the complex arrangement and unification of mankind on earth. As human beings converge around the earth, he reasoned, unifying themselves in ever more complex forms of arrangement, consciousness will rise.
Finally, the keystone to his phenomenology is that because Teilhard could not explain why the universe would move in the direction of more complex arrangements and higher consciousness, he postulated that there must exist ahead of the moving universe, and pulling it along, a higher pole of supreme consciousness, which he called Omega Point.
/////////////////////
AHH -- the Omega Point. Here's a pretty picture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Vision_of_Teilhard-de-Chardin.png
Interesting results for Omega Point:
/////////////////////
In this theory, the universe is constantly developing towards higher levels of material complexity and consciousness, a theory of evolution that Teilhard called the Law of Complexity/Consciousness. For Teilhard, the universe can only move in the direction of more complexity and consciousness if it is being drawn by a supreme point of complexity and consciousness. Thus Teilhard postulates the Omega Point as the supreme point of complexity and consciousness, which is not only as the term of the evolutionary process, but is also the actual cause for the universe to grow in complexity and consciousness. In other words, the Omega Point exists as supremely complex and conscious, independent of the evolving universe. I.e., the Omega Point is transcendent. In interpreting the universe this way, Teilhard kept the Omega Point within the orthodox views of the Christian God, who is transcendent (independent) of his creation.
/////////////////////
This is totally consistent with Jacob's message of progress.
To be continued.....
