The Evolution of Human Wisdom

The Evolution of Human Wisdom
Author: Celia Deane-Drummond
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2017-10-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1498548466

This volume addresses key questions about the puzzle of human origins by focusing on a topic that is largely unexplored thus far, namely, the evolution of human wisdom. How can we best understand the human capacity for wisdom, where did it come from, and how did it emerge? It explores lines of convergence and divergence between Christian theology and evolutionary anthropology in its search to identify different aspects of wisdom. Critical to this discussion are the philosophical difficulties that arise when two very different methodological approaches to the manner of humans becoming wise are brought together. The relative importance and significance of human language is another area of intense debate in defining the meaning of wisdom and its expression. How far and to what extent does a theologically informed wisdom discourse push evolutionary anthropology to formulate new questions and vice versa? This volume shows that there is no simple consonance between evolutionary anthropology and theology. Yet, each discipline has much to learn from the other; the authors are in agreement that even in the midst of an awareness of dissonance and some tension, there can still be mutual respect. The goal of this book is to begin to develop a trans-disciplinary approach to the evolution of human wisdom, where each discipline is challenged to ask questions in a new way. This volume tackles the relationship between theology and science in a fresh way by focusing on a specific theme—wisdom—that is equally generative for both theology and evolutionary anthropology.

The Fragile Wisdom

The Fragile Wisdom
Author: Grazyna Jasienska
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2013-01-14
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0674070976

So many women who do everything right to stay healthy still wind up with breast cancer, heart disease, or osteoporosis. In The Fragile Wisdom, Grazyna Jasienska provides an evolutionary perspective on the puzzle of why disease prevention among women is so frustratingly difficult. Modern women, she shows, are the unlucky victims of their own bodies’ conflict of interest between reproductive fitness and life-long health. The crux of the problem is that women’s physiology has evolved to facilitate reproduction, not to reduce disease risk. Any trait—no matter how detrimental to health in the post-reproductive period—is more likely to be preserved in the next generation if it increases the chance of giving birth to offspring who will themselves survive to reproductive age. To take just one example, genes that produce high levels of estrogen are a boon to fertility, even as they raise the risk of breast cancer in mothers and their daughters. Jasienska argues that a mismatch between modern lifestyles and the Stone Age physiology that evolution has bequeathed to every woman exacerbates health problems. She looks at women’s mechanisms for coping with genetic inheritance and at the impact of environment on health. Warning against the false hope gene therapy inspires, Jasienska makes a compelling case that our only avenue to a healthy life is prevention programs informed by evolutionary understanding and custom-fitted to each woman’s developmental and reproductive history.

Spiritual Wisdom

Spiritual Wisdom
Author: Ramesh Malhotra
Publisher:
Total Pages: 355
Release: 2013-07
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1475992890

The most important aspect of our existence is that every living thing is subject to two forms of evolutionary trends. One is physical, which deals with the investigation of nature by means of science and technology. The other is spiritual, which requires an investigation of nature through perceptive power, commonly achieved through meditative practices. In Spiritual Wisdom, author Ramesh Malhotra explores the evolution of the attainment of spiritual knowledge and inner tranquility and peace. Through practical examples of how to apply these spiritual principles to everyday life, he provides insight into the four tenets of eternal wisdom: mythological wisdom, inspirational wisdom, transcendental wisdom, and absolute truth. He provides an overview of the history of spiritual wisdom, the elements of lower and higher knowledge, and the process of self-revitalization. Providing an in-depth investigation and discussion of the spiritual knowledge and guidance found within the Bhagavad Gita, Malhotra encourages further exploration of spiritual wisdom and enlightenment in order to bring peace, tranquility, and happiness to every life journey.

Theology and Evolutionary Anthropology

Theology and Evolutionary Anthropology
Author: Celia Deane-Drummond
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2020-01-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1000033899

This book sets out some of the latest scientific findings around the evolutionary development of religion and faith and then explores their theological implications. This unique combination of perspectives raises fascinating questions about the characteristics that are considered integral for a flourishing social and religious life and allows us to start to ask where in the evolutionary record they first show up in a distinctly human manner. The book builds a case for connecting theology and evolutionary anthropology using both historical and contemporary sources of knowledge to try and understand the origins of wisdom, humility, and grace in ‘deep time’. In the section on wisdom, the book examines the origins of complex decision-making in humans through the archaeological record, recent discoveries in evolutionary anthropology, and the philosophical richness of semiotics. The book then moves to an exploration of the origin of characteristics integral to the social life of small-scale communities, which then points in an indirect way to the disposition of humility. Finally, it investigates the theological dimensions of grace and considers how artefacts left behind in the material record by our human ancestors, and the perspective they reflect, might inform contemporary concepts of grace. This is a cutting-edge volume that refuses to commit the errors of either too easy a synthesis or too facile a separation between science and religion. As such, it will be of interest to scholars of religious studies and theology – especially those who interact with scientific fields – as well as academics working in anthropology of religion.

The Wisdom of Generations

The Wisdom of Generations
Author: Tieman H. Dippel
Publisher: Language of Conscience Evo
Total Pages: 494
Release: 2012
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780982935484

The Wisdom of Generations, the sixth book in the Language of Conscience Evolution series, exposes a method of thinking that already has the world's greatest influencers, policy makers, and leaders applauding because the book touches the very heart of cultural existence at every level at home, in the community, in the country, and across the globe. The book focuses on many of the issues our world, and each one of us as an individual, face today. It reveals how economics and politics often serve self-interests, however culture includes values-based decision making. These ideas present what a world-renown author calls Enlightened Conservatism an appreciation for the free-market system guarded by values-based self-regulation. Through thought-provoking dialogue, The Wisdom of Generations analyses some uniquely specific cleavage points and decisions that ultimately changed history, and it challenges the reader to recognize similar points of current opportunity."

Ancient Wisdom in the Age of the New Science

Ancient Wisdom in the Age of the New Science
Author: Dmitri Levitin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 695
Release: 2015-09-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107105889

A groundbreaking, revisionist account of the importance of the history of philosophy to intellectual change - scientific, philosophical and religious - in seventeenth-century England.

New Thought, Ancient Wisdom

New Thought, Ancient Wisdom
Author: Glenn Mosley
Publisher: Templeton Foundation Press
Total Pages: 181
Release: 2006-04
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1599470896

In this book, Glenn R. Mosley chronicles the history of the movement, including biographical sketches and the philosophies of pioneers and influential leaders linked to the movement's development and growth. These include Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, the founders of Unity; Ernest Holmes, founder of the Science of Mind; Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Church of Christ Science; Ralph Waldo Trine, philosopher, mystic, teacher, and early mentor of New Thought; Joel Goldsmith, founder of The Infinite Way, among others.