Posted by Teresita on January 25, 19101 at 13:17:14:
In Reply to: Re: Christ OS: ? about evolution posted by Philoman on January 25, 19101 at 07:37:32:
Greetings Charlotte and others,
A Jesuit theologian names Teilhard de Chardin considered the target of evolution to be what he called the Omega Point, and he identified Christ as the historical appearance of that realization. He looked at evolution as branching in all directions, which it does, of course, but there is a movement from lower to higher complexity, which corresponds with the movement from lower to higher consciousness. This culminates in the human, who is the most complex and conscious of creatures, and finds it ultimate fulfillment in Christ.
Teilhard viewed Omega as the dynamism at work in all the levels of complexity and consciousness--in all of evolution. In theistic language, we could say that it's the creative Word spoken by the Creator, forming the creation so that it ultimately manifests God fully in the historical appearance of Omega as Christ.
I suppose there is a kind of omega dynamism at work in the evolution of computer operating systems. It seems the human creator wants something ever faster, more stable, more efficient, more versatile. Who can say where this will ultimately culminate? In an android like Data on Star Trek? Who knows? Perhaps it is here, as Philoman and others have noted, that the analogy breaks down. There will always be computer OS upgrades, I'm sure, but there's no evolution beyond Christ. That doesn't mean that growth and learning don't go on, or even that the body doesn't continue to evolve, however. More on all that later, if there's interest.