A Revolution Not Yet Accomplished

Leonardo Boff

17/01/2011

Opinión

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The paradigm of every change in civilization is preceded by a revolution in cosmology (the vision of the universe and of life.) Our present understanding of the world began with the extraordinary revolution introduced by Copernicus and Galileo, when they proved that the Earth was not a static center, but that it revolves around the sun. This caused an enormous crisis in people's thinking and in the Church, because it seemed that everything was losing its centrality and value. But, with time, the new cosmology prevailed, that which is still fundamentally valid today in schools, business and in our understanding of the world order. Nevertheless, anthropocentrism, the idea that the human being continues to be at the center of everything and that everything is for human use, lives on.

If the Earth is not stable, at least the universe is -- or so it was thought. It was like an infinite bubble, within which all the celestial bodies and everything else moved.

And as it happens, this cosmology began to be outdated in 1924, when amateur astronomer Edwin Hubble proved that the universe is not stable. He observed that all the galaxies and celestial bodies are becoming more distant from each other. Thus the universe is not static, as even Einstein believed. The universe is expanding in all directions. Its natural state is evolution, not stability.

This observation suggests that everything began as an extremely dense point of matter and energy that suddenly exploded (the big bang), giving rise to the present expanding universe. Einstein ratified this idea, suggested in 1927 by the Belgian astronomer priest George Lemaitre, and it was adopted as a common theory. In 1965 Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson proved that from all over the universe we receive a minimal amount of radiation, three degrees Kelvin, which could be the last echo of the initial explosion. Analyzing the spectrum of light from the most distant stars, the scientific community calculated that this explosion occurred 13.7 thousand million years ago. This is therefore the age of the universe, and once upon a time, we were, in essence, all together there, in that miniscule flaming point.

As it expands, the universe organizes and creates itself; always developing greater complexity and higher orders. The more notable scientists are convinced that, once a certain degree of complexity is achieved, anywhere, life emerges as a cosmic imperative. Likewise consciousness and intelligence. Humanity, with our capacity to love and to invent, is not excluded from the general dynamic of the universe as it develops. We are part of this immense whole.

A boundless energy of unfathomable background –the abysm that nourishes everything– sustains and passes through all things, activating the fundamental energies without which nothing would exist.

Starting from this new cosmology, our life, the Earth and all beings, our institutions, science, technology, education, arts, philosophy and religions must be given new meaning. Everything emerges from this evolving universe, depends on its initial conditions, and must be understood within this living, intelligent, self organizing universe, that is ascending towards ever higher orders.

This revolution has not yet provoked a crisis like the one of the XVI century, because it has not sufficiently entered the minds of the majority of humanity, not even of the intellectuals, and least of all, of the managers and people in power. But it is found in ecological, systemic, holistic thinking, and in many educators, who are developing the paradigm of a new age, the ecozoic era.

Why is it urgent to incorporate this paradigmatic revolution? Because it would give us the necessary theoretical basis to solve the current problems of the Earth-system, in its accelerated process of degradation. It allows us to see our inter-dependence and mutuality with all beings. Together with the living Earth we form a great cosmic and vital community. We are the conscious expression of the cosmic process and are responsible for this piece of that process, the Earth, without which all that we say would be impossible. Since we do not feel that we are part of the Earth, we are destroying her. The future of the XXI century and of the COPs will depend on whether or not we adopt this new cosmology. Only this new cosmology can save us.

- Leonardo Boff, Theologian, Earthcharter Commission.

(Free translation from the Spanish sent by Melina Alfaro, volar@fibertel.com.ar, Refugio del Rio Grande, Texas, EE.UU.)

https://www.alainet.org/en/articulo/146838