Abstract

Recent re-evaluation of palaeontological and genetic evidence has resulted in conclusions about the nature of evolution that are at variance with the traditional neo-Darwinian hypothesis. The hypothesis of formative causation (R. Sheldrake, 1981; also see record 1983-26910-001) postulates the existence of morphogenetic and related "life" fields that can explain the evidence of mutation, speciation, and heritability of characteristics more effectively than can the genetic mechanism of the neo-Darwinian hypothesis. The latter hypothesis has a purely mechanistic basis and does not provide satisfactory answers to many problems that have troubled Darwinian evolutionists. These problems concern issues such as the creation of life, the evolution of complex organs, the sudden appearance of new species, and the apparently intelligent mimicry of form and of biological mechanisms. The theory of formative causation does not offer final answers to all these questions but provides a physically plausible mechanism for the evolution of collective consciousness that can intelligently manipulate nature. Such a metaphysical hypothesis is supported by recent evidence from quantum physics, the life sciences, psychology, and parapsychology. (13 ref)