Gathered together here is a set of short critical papers in response to the article by Michael Chorost in New Scientist (2848) entitled The Ascent of Life. That article briefly presented the work of a series of different groups, that have in common the belief that Evolution is a progressive process, and seek to prove it.

But, all the alternatives to that consensus, as described in this article, do not succeed in delivering a single adequate and acceptable explanation. But they do indicate that the need for a significant alternative is currently being sought in these various research groups. Of course, such a concise article could not, and does not, do justice to these various offerings, but it does indicate their extensive range of possible lines to follow.

Now, these criticisms of those described positions will certainly suffer from the same inadequacies, but significantly the criticisms included within them are both philosophical and methodological, and expose the inadequacies of the current unquestioned assumptions in these areas. It is hoped that the readers of these brief statements of a suggested new standpoint and method will think that they “have legs”, and worthy of further study. More detailed and extensive papers on all these questions are available by this author on SHAPE Journal such as his Theory of Emergences and his various contributions opposing the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Theory such as his Theory of the Double Slit Experiment.

Jim Schofield
MARCH 2012