The Science, Philosophy, And Spirituality Of Our Evolving Planet: Part I with Carter Phipps

Hosted by: Justine Willis Toms

Carter Phipps says, “Evolution is about more than genes and DNA and selection and adaptation or even cultural stages and spirals.  It is also about the vast ocean of the cosmos.  It is about awe and amazement, humility and perspective.  It is not just about our connection to the earth, it is also about our spiritual connection to this immeasurable universe out of which we have emerged.” We are part of a moving process and the ground underneath our feet that we thought was so stationary and static is moving. We are breaking the spell of solidity and Phipps says, “this is happening cosmologically and biologically; it’s happening in the way we see the brain, human culture, human consciousness, and human institutions . . . Our fixed sense of self isn’t quite as fixed as we thought . . .and when the spell of solidity breaks we start to feel a sense of empowerment in our own lives, in our own capacity to develop, change, and to move forward into what’s possible in our lives.” When this happens we can start to sense how we can contribute to the changes and that is the most important part of what it means to be an evolutionary.(hosted by Justine Willis Toms).

Carter Phipps is an author, journalist and leading voice in an emerging field of evolutionary spirituality. He serves as a former executive editor of Enlightened Next Magazine and has been at the forefront of contemporary spiritual, philosophical and cultural discourse.  His writings have played a key role in making important new thinking accessible to a wider audience.  He’s the author of Evolutionaries, Unlocking the Spiritual and Cultural Potential of Sciences Greatest Idea (Harper Perennial 2012). To learn more about the work of Carter Phipps go towww.carterphipps.com (website was unavailable as of 10/29/12).

Topics explored in this dialogue include:

  • Who are the “evolutionaries”
  • How evolution is more than biology
  • What are the three qualities of an “evolutionary”
  • What is meant by the statement “we are rich in data and poor in meaning”
  • Who was Teilhard de Chardin and what was his vision of cosmological evolution
  • Why are most “evolutionaries” optimists
  • Why evolution is not simple or linear and does not move in a straight line
  • How the nature of nature is creativity
  • Why the big question in our global civilization is one of how we cooperate

Program Number: 3450     Hosted by: Justine Willis Toms     Interview Date: 9/13/12


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