THE SYMBIOTIC UNIVERSE 

Far too many contemporary books on science wind up giving sops to religion and magical thinking.  The Symbiotic Universe,written by award-winning astrophysicist George Greenstein, does not fall into this trap.  Greenstein has written a fascinating study of the nature of existence, and the relationship between life and the cosmos which totally eschews mysticism and magical thinking.

The Symbiotic Universe takes us on a whirlwind scientific tour that incorporates particle physics, quantum theory, and a number of other topics into a new theory of symbiotic unity.

Symbiosis is the mutual interdependency of two organisms.  Here, it refers to the universe and the origins of life on earth.  Greenstein shows how these two metaphysical essences have traditionally been dichotomized into two distinct spheres, in the process opening the door to mystical speculation.

Greenstein is one of those rare contemporary scientists who refuses to compromise his integrity by oblique and unnecessary references to god and the supernatural; he posits a universe without magic or a creator deity.  Indeed, he goes further, saying that he doesn’t think that scientific discoveries are “capable of proving God’s existence—not now, not ever.”  His theory is that the origin of life in the universe occurred because it was unavoidable, even inevitable.

Greenstein tells us of the preconditions necessary for the origin of life.  The vastness of space is an essential component in understanding the various processes.  Religion, by contrast, cannot offer up this kind of information, settling instead for simplistic and objectively meaningless statements such as “god created the universe” which tells us nothing about the process of creation itself.  He also lists the nuclear transformation of the basic elements of hydrogen and helium since the time of the Big  Bang, and then explains the ultimate amalgamation of the various elements into stars and planets.

To link his various themes together, Greenstein incorporates the much-maligned Anthropic Principle, which is the key to understanding the symbiotic relationship between the universe and life.  His definition of this principle takes the form of a tautology: “If some feature of the natural world is required for our existence, then it must indeed be the case.”  Putting this non-refutable truism to work, Greenstein uses our existence as a starting point to understand the rest of existence.  He makes it clear that god believers who use the Anthropic Principle as a supposed proof of god’s existence are confusing it with anthropocentrism, the age-old theistic idea that we humans are the center of the universe, which  was providentially designed and crafted for our benefit.

For some inexplicable reason, Greenstein has been cited by theists as an example of a god believing scientist.  For example, in a debate with Dan Barker of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), John Morehead of the American Religion Information Center quoted from page 27 of Greenstein’s book as follows: “Is it possible that suddenly, without intending to, we have stumbled upon scientific proof of the existence of a Supreme Being?  Was it God who stepped in and so providentially crafted the cosmos for our benefit?”  However, Morehead’s omission of the following paragraph, which begins with: “A heady prospect.  Unfortunately, I believe it to be illusory”  is illustrative of the religious debater’s propensity to quote sources out of context in order to distort meaning.

The Symbiotic Universe, in addition to being a stimulating read, is also refreshing in that it offers us a rational, non-supernatural explanation to some of the most perplexing questions of science.