Thinker ponders questions of genius
By Julian Lee Do you know a painting without a painter? Or a building without a builder? These were the questions that Dr Daniel Dennett addressed in the first Distinguished Fellow Lecture for the Centre for the Mind earlier this month. Although the Science versus Creationism debate is still alive and well, there is no doubt in Dr Dennett's mind that Charles Darwin, in 1859, struck the death blow to Creationism. But Dr Dennett said he is "waiting for this to sink in" for the hardcore Creationists. The remaining question for many people, however, is how can natural selection - a process of random changes where the fittest survive - lead to some of our greatest creative geniuses including Shakespeare, Bach and van Gogh? Dr Dennet suggests that two crucial events, the evolution of language and endosymbiosis, are among the means by which natural selection has been accelerated and diversified to a point where such genius is possible. Endosymbiosis was the process where bacteria combined to create the first complex single cells, from which plants and animals have evolved. This diversity eventually led to language which allowed culture to be born and flourish. Dr Dennet explains their role by likening them to a crane which enables new types of buildings to be built and at increasing speeds. Dr Dennett is adamant that faith is irrelevant to the issue, "if you are going to talk then it must be logical and rational". He sees discussion as a game of intellectual tennis where the lines and net are there for all to see. Bringing faith into it is akin to lowering the net. Dr Dennett is here at the invitation of the ANU's Centre for the Mind. Early in 1997 when Dr Dennett was in Australia, he hinted that he would like to return. "I was delighted when the Centre for the Mind invited me back as a Distinguished Fellow," he said. "I'll be resident thinker for the month. Philosophers can do some good by opening people's eyes and getting them over imagination blocks". He would like to persuade people to open their minds to "evolutionary" thinking about themselves and their world. "People are afraid to confront their own biology," he lamented. "Evolutionary theory doesn't have to be perdition, result in biological determinism, or a lowering of ethics." "There are two ways of looking at it, thrilling or appalling. I look at it as thrilling. It should be seen as empowering, a great insight into the nature of human beings," Dr Dennett smiled.