In 2nd century AD Alexandria during the Roman Empire, Ptolemy, the Egyptian astronomer and geographer, observing that the rock in his palm fell straight down, came to realize that the sun and the earth must also be governed by the same force. In the Almagest, he developed the theory that the earth is the center of the universe, with the sun, moon, and stars revolving around it. This would provide impetus to the idea that the entire physical universe revolves around man's existence and survival. With this idea, man was truly king of all creation. In practice, this meant that the earth would suffer at the hands of ‘god-kings' who were confident in their hegemony over the cosmos. In 1543, the Polish astronomer Copernicus proposed an alternative to the Ptolemaic system, but he died before seeing that his theory would prove to be correct.
Ptolemy provided the ideological underpinning for the god-kings to consolidate their power on earth. Europe was buried deep in the Inquisition and the Church was manipulating the power of superstition to protect its wealth and power. Kings were elected by God, and had the power to rule absolutely in His name. They claimed ownership over everything, from the earth, rivers, and people, to even the invention of the wheel...
Ptolemy's Almagest was translated into Arabic and distributed to all of the Muslim countries. He was claimed the Islamic world's most prominent scholar at the time, since Ptolemy had placed the individual at the center of the universe-just like all major religions. This perspective took hold of the Old World through the writings of poets and the preaching of clergy.
To the dismay of most parts of the modern Muslim world, where young minds are sadly kept at bay from innovative thinking by means of a rigid religious education system, Al Biruni, an Islamic scholar (973-1048 AD) wrote extensively on geography, geology and astronomy in as early as the 11th century. According to historians, Al Biruni paved the way for modern astronomy that would later mature with Copernicus's work. Challenging Ptolemy's theory that the earth was fixed, he postulated that it was revolving constantly. Among his almost 150 works, he identified the properties of 23 solids and 6 fluids almost without flaw.
As the world emerged out of the darkness of the Middle Ages, the new class that rose to power would have gods of their own, in England, Central Europe and the coasts of the Mediterranean. Just as today, these god-kings claimed that their legitimacy came from a higher power, entitling them to take decisions and enforce laws at their whim. Confusion and anger over the questions, ‘How were we created?' and ‘How can man, as the only rational living creature on earth possibly be mortal?' kept kings and god-kings alike on their thrones.
From the Middle Ages to the present day, the trajectory of mankind's progress has always pointed upwards. Copernican theory, Einstein's theory of relativity, continental drift and plate tectonics, the atomic theory, charged electrons unseen by the naked eye. . . Each of these, through scientific observation and experimentation, were eventually proven. What scientists means by ‘theory' is what can be supported by evidence and rationally explained. But they always maintain a degree of caution, at least until a better explanation comes around. Until then, they take it as the best explanation of the world that is available.
And we plug our television sets into the socket on the wall; measure our years according to the earth's revolution; and in many ways, more than we are sometimes aware, adapt our lives to these trusted theories.
Nothing shook the world as much as Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection; it was by far one of the most transformative and influential revolutions of modern history. What can easily be considered the backbone of Darwin's life-long research, this controversial theory has reverberated across the decades without any end in sight. Darwin essentially took away the god-kings' play toy-and threatened the established social and political order. This was a theory that shook public consensus to the core, which is why despite the tremendous advances in molecular biology, biochemistry and genetics that supports Darwin's claims, there are still those who maintain that it simply cannot be possible. What evolution implies for modern Homo sapiens, poses even more of a crisis.
At a time of rising conservatism globally, many are obsessed with the ephemeral and spiritual and turn to faith for answers to modern day dilemmas. We have been subjected to the idea that a ‘clash of civilizations' over the differences in our faith systems is inevitable. The god-kings appear to be comfortable even in the 21st century. But regardless, Darwin's theory will not go away, quite the opposite, it will continue to fire debate just as it has for the past 150 years when Darwin's masterwork, On the Origin of Species, was first published. No matter what we believe in, we simply cannot escape evolution.
Walls made up of stubborn taboos and dogmas will eventually be knocked down. Research which raises questions about the religious side of our brain and the biological underpinnings for why we believe, has rattled conventional wisdom and has met stern resistance. Other studies that track the evolution of religion contend that religion benefited our ancestors. So rather than being a by-product of other brain functions, it is a genetic adaptation in its own right. This explains how natural selection incrementally purged human populations of the non-religious. There is still much that mankind does not understand about our own minds and the earth that we share. What should be clear by now, however, is that we together need to preserve the earth as we know it; this is sometimes lost on a generation hurrying to break new ground.
Some are slaves of technology, others are chained to an interpretation of science that threatens to take us back to a time long before Galileo's discoveries 400 years ago or Darwin, 150 years in the past. The systematic mentality that aims to repress the mind's creativity, restrain scientific discovery and curb its influence over society is handing science over to the god-kings. Just like the Church had done in the past.
As a result of drastic changes in living conditions, today, evidence of evolution's progress can be seen in as short as a few generations. If the lifespan of the organism is short, the generational effect can fit into as little as 5 years. Recent reports that a team of U.S. researchers found an abundance of recent adaptive mutations etched in the human genome was shocking. There is some evidence that over the past 10,000 years, human evolution has occurred a hundred times more quickly than in any other period in our species' history.