The Biology of Belief - Bruce H. Lipton [89]
My point is not to get caught up in the mathematical details of the modeling. There are repetitive fractal patterns in nature and in evolution as well. The strikingly beautiful, computer-generated pictures that illustrate fractal patterns should remind us that, despite our modern angst and the seeming chaos of our world, there is order in nature, and there is nothing truly new under the sun. Evolution’s repetitive, fractal patterns allow us to predict that humans will figure out how to expand their consciousness in order to climb another rung of the evolutionary ladder. The exciting, esoteric world of fractal geometry provides a mathematical model that suggests that the “arbitrariness, planlessness, randomness, and accident” that Mayr wrote about is an outmoded concept. In fact, I believe it is an idea that does not serve humanity and should, as rapidly as possible, go the way of the pre-Copernican Earth-centered universe.
Once we realize that there are repeating, ordered patterns in nature and evolution, the lives of cells, which inspired this book and the changes in my life, become even more instructive. For billions of years, cellular living systems have been carrying out an effective peace plan that enables them to enhance their survival as well as the survival of the other organisms in the biosphere. Imagine a population of trillions of individuals living under one roof in a state of perpetual happiness. Such a community exists—it is called the healthy human body. Clearly cellular communities work better than human communities—there are no left-out, “homeless” cells in our bodies. Unless of course, our cellular communities are in profound disharmony causing some cells to withdraw from cooperating with the community. Cancers essentially represent homeless, jobless cells that are living off the other cells in the community.
If humans were to model the lifestyle displayed by healthy communities of cells, our societies and our planet would be more peaceful and vital. Creating such a peaceful community is a challenge because every person perceives the world differently. So essentially, there are six billion human versions of reality on this planet, each perceiving its own truth. As the population grows, they are bumping up against each other.
Cells faced a similar challenge in early evolution as described in Chapter 1, but the point bears repeating. Shortly after the Earth was formed, single-celled organisms rapidly evolved. Thousands of variations of unicellular bacteria, algae, yeast, and protozoa, each with varying levels of awareness, appeared over the next three-and-a-half billion years. It is probable that, like us, those single-celled organisms began to multiply seemingly out of control and to over-populate their environment. They began to bump up against each other and wonder, Will there be enough for me? It must have been scary for them, too. With that new, enforced closeness and the consequent change in their environment, they searched for an effective response to their pressures. Those pressures led to a new and glorious era in evolution, in which single cells joined together in altruistic multicellular communities. The end result was humans, at or near the top of the evolutionary ladder.
Similarly, I believe that the stresses of the increasing human population will be responsible for pushing us up another rung on the evolutionary ladder. We will, I believe, come together in a global community. The members of that enlightened community will recognize that we are made in the image of our environment, i.e., that we are divine, and that we have to operate, not in a survival of the fittest manner, but in a way that supports everyone and everything on this planet.
Survival of the Most Loving
You may agree that Rumi’s words on the power of love are noble ones, but you may not believe that they fit these troubled times, when survival of the fittest may seem more appropriate. Isn’t Darwin right that violence