Jonah.... From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God.... Jonah obeyed the word of the
LORD and went to Ninevah.Jonah 1:1-3:3A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ:... Rahab ... King David.Matthew 1:1-6But how can it make sense for people who are part of this "inevitable," impersonal, just-as-it's-
supposed-to-be universe to want to change part of it, i.e., the behavior of others who are also part of the
same universe? If we are really just a part of this impersonal universe and no more, then how would we
know that something is wrong with the universe we're part and parcel of? Humans have within them (from
some source) a sense that things can be better. But this couldn't come from the stuff of a just-as-it's-
supposed-to-be universe. It has to come from somewhere else.
A utilitarian answer won't suffice-e.g., humans want a better life for others because they've figured out
that that means a better life for themselves. That might explain why I pick up the trash my neighbor lets
collect in front of his house. It doesn't explain why I spend some of my free time agitating against the U.S.
military's ongoing support for the Southeast Asian sex trade. Whether the kiddie slaves in the brothels of
Bangkok are liberated or not has no direct bearing on my day-to-day life. I'm enraged by their plight out of
a sense that a great injustice is being perpetrated. And I don't see how such a sense of rage could spring
from the stuff of ajust-as-it's-supposed-to-be universe.
I think naturalism fails at very interesting points. I don't think naturalism informs me at all about why I
leave a tip in a restaurant in the middle of England when I'll never be there again in my life.
Henry Harpending, geneticist (2003)
I know a little about neuropsychology, behaviorism, etc. But certain human essences remained
uncaptured.
Best,
Preston
Dear Preston,
I think you have been given a very strange and biased view of naturalism. Much of the characterizing you
do of naturalism is not accurate. The naturalism I, and most scientists I have interviewed and learned
from, subscribe to is simply the belief that truth comes from the empirical investigation of the universe.
By "morality" I am referring to the social rules we are all familiar with-for example, if you borrow
something give it back, and help the disabled. It has no necessary connection with religion, or any other
institution for that matter. It is the behavior we learn from our earliest development, from our immediate
social encounters (usually this is parents and siblings).
Making the world a better place is a major goal for me. But do not mistake my intentions to educate
people to live better with the belief that our ultimate destiny is changeable. We are indeed headed for