PROBLEM OF SURVIVAL OR PROBLEM OF LIFE?

Materials for International Symposium “New challenges and global threats to

international security in the beginning of 21 century”. Yerevan, November 22-23 2004.

In 1992 more than 1600 leading scientists from 71 countries and more than half of them
Nobel Prize winners, have published report, entitled “Warning of world scientists to humanity”.
This “Warning” became the result of “Summit of the Earth”, which was held in Rio-de-Janeiro in
the same year. It should be pointed out that alarm was sounded not by governments, politicians or
economists, but by scientists. Most conservative among them think, that our planet with its
population has lifetime not more than fifty years, if urgent steps will not be taken in time. In the
document of this summit it is said particularly “It’s remained no more than one or few decades
before the chance to prevent threats will be lost completely and perspectives for humanity will
immeasurably decrease”. We, undersigned here, progressive part of world scientific community,
are warning all humanity by this document about oncoming catastrophe…
Since then more than twelve years has passed, but any global steps and cardinal changes
in our service to Earth and life on it, as it’s said further, were not undertaken. Local steps
generally are struggle with consequences of the crisis, but not with causes, continuing to create
new effects briskly.
Do we know the causes? On international symposium in Moscow “How to save Earth
civilization?” Professor Markarian expressed his view about necessity to make a transition from
“spontaneous”, extremely destructive kind of evolution of civilization to consciously directed
one.
But is it possible? Do we know “scientific foundation”, on which we could base our plan
of “the strategy of survival” confronted with new threats to humanity? Professor Markarian
suggested “special exceptional importance of the role of social cultural sciences” as the scientific
basis, considering crisis having social cultural character, since this is “crisis of civilization itself”.
He recommended paying a special attention to “the creation of prerequisites for the integrative
interaction social and biological sciences”.
It should be noted, that this deep search for scientific-cognitive origins of crisis is
substantial step forward in comparison with programs, which recommend measures of
momentary struggle with ecological and other consequences, since it is directed toward exposure
of the foundations of the crisis. Since global crisis cannot be resolved and surmounted by local
efforts, but first of all needs showing up its origins.
These attempts to put the revelation of the origins of crisis on strictly scientific
foundation are not limited however to the issue of integration of social and biological sciences.
The matter is that question about overcoming of crisis can neither be even brought up nor
resolved on the level of scientific theories, namely biological, social or social-cultural theories.
The problem can only be studied on the level of foundations of scientific disciplines. Even though
science about living nature has to be featured in the issue of survival of humanity, and social
sciences have not less importance as sciences about human society, but the question itself, has
biology its own foundations or it’s completely based on physics is still under discussion. The
participants of the Symposium did mention more than once imperfection of social sciences and
hence the absence of attention, which social sciences certainly deserve. Should we look for
motives of that in the fact that these scientific disciplines are trying to be based on biology,
having problematical status of independence, since it’s based on physics, chemistry, mathematics
in strictly scientific plan.
Mathematics is the most advanced among the disciplines. It goes back to its foundations
when it discovers un removable antagonism, or paradox in its theories, and by raising the problem
of its substantiation, constructs new scientific discipline, Meta mathematics. Since ancient Greek
mathematics gone already through the third crisis of foundations, which wasn’t overcome up to
now.
In times of Galileo and Newton, physics had been starting as the science about “non-
living nature”, having the postulate about inertial motion and inertial matter in its foundations and
crisis became visible right away at discoveries of “grandiose paradoxes” of quantum mechanics.
But crisis has been realized after the appearance of theories of self-organization in view of the
problem transition from “non-living” to “living”.
“We, said Ilia Prigogine, are experiencing the period of scientific revolution, when the
place and the very essence of scientific approach has to be fundamentally reexamined, the period,
rather reminding beginning of scientific approach in the Ancient Greece, or its renascence in
times of Galileo”.
Indeed, if we make the excursus to Ancient Greece in times of Socrates and Plato, we
may view that remarkable event in human cognition, when era of Mysticism comes to end and the
new era of the Reason is beginning and lays its foundations. In ancient times man has been
perceiving the world by way of clairvoyance, revelation, and intuition. Gradually clairvoyance
and intuition give a way to intellect and reason, which has been so much developed during 500
years, that transition from mystical man to rational one has become possible. Socrates are
standing at origins of that transition, who proclaimed the reason as superior value, and for which
we should sacrifice everything including even life itself. In the ancient times the symbol of
mysticism was the cup, the symbol of reason was double-edged sword. The age of reason has
started by division, dissection of whole androgynous ancient Greek into soul and body, which is
cognitive procedure, called by Socrates as “philosophical dying”. And Socrates, laying his own
life on the altar of reason, has redeemed that sacrifice completely knowingly. So from now on,
man didn’t die by perceiving, but only by disengaging himself from life.
In the times of Galileo, as Prigogine writes, “renascence of this scientific approach took
place”, but this time, let us say, with opposite sign, since the concept of Socrates and Ancient
Greek is addressed to immortal soul, cleaned from the “barbarian filth” of the body. However the
clock hand, showing antique noon of human cognition and culture in times of Socrates has
declined to sunset in times of Galileo, performing circle equal to two thousand years, has pointed
finally to the necessity of cognition of the body, cleaned this time not only from soul and spirit,
but even from last indications of life. Five centuries science was busy by studying “non-living”
nature, little recognizing a measure, and the most important the price of abstracting from life.
There is no such a thing as “non-living” nature in the world, except the world created by a man,
the world of machines and automats as the realization of the laws of physics, which we call “laws
of nature”, clearly “non-living”.
Revolution, mentioned by Prigogine, consists of the change of the basis of human
perception of the world for the first time since times of Hellenes, natural science in the person of
physics changes its foundations, and by completing the development of “the science about non-
living nature”, raises a question about the transition from “non-living” to “living” as a scientific
problem. We could say that modern theoretical physics in all its parts is in the process of that
transition. However that transition is most deeply recognized in the conception of Prigogin.
What about the biology, as science about life? Why the problem of the transition from
“non-living” to “living” raises as synergetic problem but not biological? Why “life” is forgotten
problem in biology? And why the question about theoretical biology as independent scientific
discipline still is under discussions? Only by sufficiently making clear all these questions, it is
possible to reveal the crisis of foundations of natural scientific knowledge as the beginning and
root of crisis in all other fields of human cognition and work.
Man is what he does, but not what he knows or says. And if he was allowed to dissect,
dismember, fragment nature by the sword of reason as a tool of cognition for ages, it doesn’t
mean to kill once and for all the nature and himself in it without recognition of neither roots of
crisis, nor origins of the issue of the survival of humanity on the planet, as the number one
problem.
There is an opinion, that twenty first century will be the century of biology, the century of
science about life. However the question about theoretical biology as science about life is still
debated. Or, in other words, has the biology some principles in its foundations, different from
that, which theoretical physics has?
The study, carried out in the Institute of Philosophy and Law of NASA RA, showed that
object of study of biology – living being was found dissected into soul and body at very cradles of
science of New Age. Science about «non-living» nature started deal with soulless body, while
philosophy and psychology studied soul and spirit. In short, foundations of biology were shared
between mathematical natural science and philosophy “3”. And hence it was found that object of
study of biology is not a living nature, not a living organism, but life, investigated from “another
side”, from the death point of view, i.e. it was studied not a life of organism, but an anatomy of
life.
Thus, there is still no theoretical biology as independent scientific discipline,
commensurable with theoretical physics. There is biology as problem of life, delivered in new
science by vitalism, the problem stretched between poles of natural science and philosophy,
arena, where drama of west conception from Galileo to Newton is performing until now. More
precisely we could say that before the creation of self-organization theories, unifying, cooperating
“synergy” efforts of almost all scientific disciplines, and first of all physics, making alliance with
philosophy for the study of the central point of modern scientific cognition, problem of life, as
new beginning of cognition.
And only now one could say, that some disadvantage in the development of social
sciences, naturally based on the biology, comes from the historical and logical fact, that necessity
of integration of two bases of biology, divided between natural science and philosophy, still is not
properly recognized.
However it should be noted, that modern science stands on threshold of perception, that
namely life is central problem of modern natural science, philosophy and all other scientific
disciplines, and also all fields of human cognition, and hence, all activity too. By other words,
namely problem of life is that central point, where all ways of human cognition and activity
intersect and become one. This nodal point and focus unfolds into axis in other projection, as an
entrance into other new dimension, and as a root, from where “Babel tower” of human rational
cognition and multiplied now sciences emerges. All that sciences describe the same state of the
physical world on different languages. Without the focus as unified basis of human cognitive
universe we could compare circle of sciences gone into periphery with planetary system with
extinguished sun. The very origin of the crisis and problem of survival should be searched namely
here, in the foundations of physics, developed now up to raising of problem of transition from
“non-living” to “living”. The appropriate question now is, why in the foundations of physics, but
not let’s say of biology, sociology or spiritual science? It was already said about biology and
sociology: in biological sciences there is no place not only for living man, but for “only one
caterpillar or of only one blade of grass” (Kant); and that means, that sociology based on biology,
is the science about human society without only living man…
Very briefly we could say, that namely physics is the lawmaker of the world of exact
natural science. Pivotal reason for leading role of physics is in the fact that laws of physics do not
remain as pure knowledge but have an entrance into reality, action in the form of technique and
technology, and therefore are Knowledge-Power, menacing, blind, unconscious power, since
consciousness of physics is in radically different dimension of philosophy. If one compares
philosophy with a hunter finding treasures by looking into spyglasses, then physics is the hunter
possessing by the game, but dead game truth to say. By other words, namely natural science at the
head of physics with its offspring technique and technology, are doing “the weather on the
planet”. And they had enough time to completely change the face of planet. If we look aside
those material welfare for the moment and comfort given us by technique and technology, then
we could say that the domination of non-living nature over natural living one threaten the
existence of humanity itself on the planet.
Age of Reason, started by fragmentation of whole antique cognitive universe in the
Ancient Greece, nowadays comes to its completion. There is no need for special proofs, all signs
are everywhere, starting by global crisis and finishing by crisis of foundations of the modern
scientific cognition.
Here was made an attempt to show, that the origin of crisis should be searched namely in
cognition. However the crisis is not necessarily a catastrophe, “the end of history” (by Fukuyama)
or “Sunset of Europe” (by Spengler); it means not only and not so much the end, as new
beginning.

The disciples said to Jesus: "Tell us how our end will be."
Jesus said: "Have you discovered, then, the beginning, that you look for the end?
For where the beginning is, there the end will be too. Blessed is he who will stand at
the beginning. And he will know the end, and will not taste death."

Not a philosophy, existing in the world of concepts and ideas, which do no have an
immediate contact with reality, an action, and not a spiritual science, studying pure shade, but
namely science in the person of physics discovers today new beginning, problem of life forgotten
in the age of Reason. And now let us think over specific scientific statement.
The problem of transition from “non-living” to “living”.
Professional scientist understands by “non-living” inorganic nature. But as you know
nature is alive from “quarks” to Earth and Universe, otherwise we wouldn’t exist in the world,
there is no way in principle. Here physicist puts on nature narrow-mindedness of scientific
method. Theory of self-organization talks today about “radical revaluation” of that scientific
approach going into the period of “scientific revolution”. How is it possible to perform transition
from divided, sputtered nature (to “quarks” in physics, to “two bites” in information science and
cybernetics, to “skeleton with spade in hands” in philosophy) to healed nature and living
resurrected man? By other words, how is it possible raising from the dead?
We cross imperceptibly boundaries of exact science and enter into the territory, or terra
incognita of spiritual science, moreover we got right into its core, indirectly verifying already
established truth about unity of foundations of all human cognition.
The problem of rising from dead in real human world is resolved by Jesus Christ Savior,
by Son of God, incarnated with the Mission to reveal the way of healing, immortality, freedom,
and Resurrection from dead to mortal human. After passing of two millenniums since times of
Christ’s Acts human cognition in the person of physics on its own independent ways discovers
that age-old problem of its existence, which challenges humanity since the Fall of Adam, damned
for the knowledge of death in all its manifestations.
The problem of resurrection from dead, being always the issue of faith, now is appearing
as the issue of knowledge, as the problem of exact science. Because man is not alive by faith only
but by truth too, not only be heart but by head too, not only by feeling but by reason too.
Thousand years man perceived spiritual world in renunciation of flesh, and hundreds years he
studied material nature, purified from soul and spirit. Today man begins to recognize, that he
exists not in the triune alliance of spirit, soul, and body in his cognition of the world. Let us say
he is crucified between poles of spirit and matter. The first problem he has to solve is how to
perform a transition from fragmented “non-living” state to the state of living man or spirit in
flesh. How to perceive the end of age of Reason towards the end of the two thousands years of
Crucified Christ, and “do not taste death” without a making of scientific-and-technical
apocalypses. How to make a transition into unprecedented new age of Resurrection, into the age
of Consciousness?
 Human is ternary: Sense, Intellect, Will. He passed already phase of sensible-mystical
cognition in his historical development and completes the age of reasonable-rational one. Now he
is for the most difficult and responsible part of his evolutionary way, transition into action,
transition from school into life.
The main problem of humanity is not the survival itself, because we could survive by the
way of monkeys or clones with the silicon brain, but it is the evolutionary transition from the Age
of Reason to the new Age of Consciousness. Humanity should knowingly reveal will to live and
be involved in his own evolution by free volitional effort in complete consciousness of who are
we, where we came from and where are we going, and in full responsibility of what we are
doing?
The way of transition from reasonable human to conscious one, the transition to
immortality and living life is revealed by Act of Christ. There were needed two thousands years
for human cognition to come to the discovery of that way into new dimension, which is
recovering the sense of his existence, development and evolution.
In the light of revealed origins of the crisis let us try to understand the key questions
raised on the Symposium in Yerevan, paying a special attention to the issues, investigated by the
director of the Institute of Prevision in the Europe Mr. Philippe Van Nederveld, who gave a talk
titled “Peacemaking potential of main new Technologies”. The subtitle was “Analytical
description of calls and threats of accelerating convergence Nano-Bio-Info-Cogno” (NBIC)
technologies and more particularly, peacemaking potential of Healthy Indeterminate Longevity
(HIL), with recommendations directed to the action”.
Author notes from the very beginning, that technologies could be like “double-edged
sword”, i.e. from one side they could be as “dividing and destroying powers in the field of
security and stability”, and from other side “they may serve for reconciliation of peoples and
countries”. He makes the most optimistic forecast concerning human longevity, and theoretically
immortality too. Now investigators in USK are busy by design of neural prosthetics for some
parts of human brain and they promise, that after 30-40 years they will produce neural prosthetics
for all parts of the brain.
“After applications of Micro-electromechanical Systems (MEMS) in nanotechnology,
scientists from Cogno-Technologies (i.e. Technologies of brain or Neuro-technologies – I.A.)
become more and more successful not only in design of direct bridges between human brain and
computers, and robots, but even in technological development, allowing us, peoples, to shift
imperceptibly our mental processes from fragile and inclined to aging brain, consisted from
carbon to more strong substances like silicon, which will also allow us to increase the speed of
our mental processes”.
For some reason Mr. Nederveld wasn’t talking about other, not less fragile organ, heart,
which also should be changed to more lasting silicon, i.e. stony, to be perfectly clear about kind
of longevity or immortality we should expect from Cogno-Technologies, if the Age of Reason
will fail to give a way to the following Age of Consciousness.
“Explosive potential of these projects”, as author notes, “may impress so much, that
instead of welcoming and helping them in their development, you may be inclined to opposition
and try to stop them”. It is unrealizable to stop these projects as well as unnecessary. First of all it
is unrealizable because, appearing technologies look like roller sliding down along inclined road.
Our choice either to jump on the board, or become a part of the road.”
It should be noted that author describes current situation very sensibly and correctly. The
advances of modern technologies, especially military technologies are not theoretical or
legislative issue, but fact, promising to become apocalyptic, if it wouldn’t be possible to find the
way to control them or at least to direct their motion.
Century ago, in the old good times of golden age of theoretical physics, when theories
dictated their conditions to experiment, as well as to technique and technology, it was possible yet
to control them. Now, when genie of Technology finally got out from the bottle, now he himself
begins to dictate his conditions of the natural science development; and roller of modern
technologies slides down with enormous inertia and huge acceleration along unknown and
unconscious route.
All question is about, is it possible to control that roller? And if it is possible, then how?
In other words, do we know the destination, where we could direct its motion? And finally main
point is: is it within the limits of possibilities and powers of driver to turn the wheel and lead the
roller up the road, which is going down. Who is the driver of that technological roller? Are he or
they really determine the route?
Isn’t it Utopia to presume that by filling up the “gap of incomprehension between higher
officials and scientists-designers”, it is possible to stop falling in the chasm of self-destruction of
both who are on board, and who became the road?
Didn’t already come the time for homo sapiens to remember, that he is not a “soulless”
matter in slavery to stillborn offspring of his “pure” heartless Reason, but he is potential son of
God, gone to periphery of cognitive world in the search of his own “True Self”, own sunny
center, focus of light, love and freedom and discovering life today in his cognition, for the first
time since Adam. Isn’t it time to awaken, come to consciousness and see, that science, making
technological soulless monsters by one hand, knocks the doors of soul and spirit more and more
loudly by second hand? The bridges are rising now between sciences about pure shade and “non-
living” matter cleaned from soul, bridges, which could meet only in the central problem of human
existence, the problem of life.

1. Prigogine I. From being to Becoming. N.Y., 1980.

2. Acobian I. Philosophical foundations of unity of biological and physical knowledge.
Yerevan, 1987 (in Russian).
3. Acobian I. Philosophical foundations of genesis of theoretical Biology in the light of
asymmetry principle. 1992.
4. “Apocrypha of Ancient Christians”, Nag Hammadi Lib. 1989.
5. See for more details I. Acobian. The problem of commensurability of science and
philosophy, or Mystery of Life, Death, and Resurrection in cognition, Yerevan, 2001.