by which we live. The fundamental beliefs that collectively shape a society may be defined as its basal paradigm. According to Thomas Kuhn, a paradigm is a theoretical framework representing the ‘truths’ underlying any particular belief system, be it scientific, religious, economic or political in nature. A basal paradigm specifically represents


the truths accepted by a civilisation in answering three fundamental question of human existence: How did we get here? Why are we here? Now that we are here, how do we make


the best of it? Cultures use basal paradigms to make


sense of life experiences. If a paradigm’s perceptions are accurate, people are afforded an opportunity to experience health and coherence. If the perceptions are distorted, then life and society become distorted as well.


Transition from monotheism to scientific materialism Science had been creating technical miracles surpassing those of the Church for over two centuries, yet the truths it offered could not displace the Church as society’s truth-provider. The Church maintained its powerful position simply because science was unable to provide a satisfactory answer for the first basic paradigmatic question, ‘How did we get here?’ However, all that changed in 1859 when Darwin published his opus, The Origin of Species: By Means of Natural Selection Or The Preservation Of Favoured Races In The Struggle For Life. The public immediately preferred Darwin’s insights that life arose through millions of years of hereditary variations to the Genesis story championed by the Church. In adopting science’s theory of evolution over the notion of divine origins, civilisation officially transitioned from the era of monotheism into the current age of scientific materialism. This cultural transition was mediated by a profound revision of civilisation’s basal paradigm precipitated by Darwinian theory. Two fundamental tenets of Darwin’s


theory dramatically altered the fate and character of our current civilisation. First,


the theory emphasised that hereditary variations responsible for one species evolving to another arise through random alterations (i.e., genetic mutations). By ascribing hereditary variations as accidents, science removed the role of God in shaping the biosphere and, particularly, in providing for our existence.


Essentially, science suggests that there is no reason or purpose for our existence other than a genetic crapshoot. As accidental tourists we have no responsibility to the planet or each other.


The second culture-shaping feature of Darwinian theory is couched in the concept of natural selection. Not all hereditary variations are equal; some enhance survival, some threaten survival while most mutations are neutral. Natural selection implies that Nature supports the survival of the fittest individuals. In the final chapter of The


Origin of Species, Darwin wrote of an inevitable “struggle for life” and that evolution was driven by “the war of nature, from famine and death.” Couple that with Darwin’s notion that evolution is random and you have a world poetically described by Tennyson as “red in tooth and claw”, a series of meaningless, bloody battles for survival. For Darwin, struggle and violence are not only a part of animal (human) nature, they are the principal forces driving evolutionary advancement. Through its influence on society’s basal


paradigm, Darwinian theory has had a profound impact upon shaping the current state of civilisation. In the era of scientific materialism, the public has bought into the following ‘truths’ in response to the perennial questions: How did we get here? Through random


evolution. Why are we here? We are simply genetic


accidents; so there is no reason for our existence. Now that we are here, how do we make


the best of it? Live by the law of the jungle as we compete in the struggle for survival. While science measures evolutionary


success in terms of an individual’s survival, it does not stipulate the means needed to obtain those ends. Life is simply perceived as a struggle with winners and losers.


An Uzi is as powerful a means of securing survival as is having a large brain or expressing the character of love. In such a competition-based world, morality is frequently seen as an impediment in achieving evolutionary success.


Darwinian theory misgauges the thrust of evolution as an inevitable competition for survival. World leaders, in an effort to adhere to this philosophy, have made a commitment to ensure survival by encouraging violence-based competition in the perceived struggle for survival. It is precisely this belief that has nurtured the violence and ecological upheaval that is currently eroding our civilisation. Even more problematic, our ‘purposeless’ existence has profoundly impacted global harmony by detaching us from


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