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The thought of Jane Goodall<\/strong> on God and evolution. On the day of the passing of the well-known primatologist, an in-depth look at her anti-materialism<\/strong> and rejection of evolutionary chance.<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yesterday the passing of Jane Goodall<\/strong><\/mark> occurred; she died at the age of 91.<\/p>\n A celebrated ethologist and paleontologist, she was among the most influential scientists<\/strong> of our time and is known for having pushed the defense of nature far beyond conventional boundaries.<\/p>\n Goodall is particularly known for her studies on chimpanzees<\/strong> in Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, research that began in 1960 based on an immersive approach. Observing the primates she always emphasized their emotionality and social relationships<\/strong>, discovering the use of tools that were previously thought to be an exclusive prerogative of human beings.<\/p>\n Champion of the ethical treatment<\/strong> of animals, her work revolutionized the way of conceiving the distinction<\/strong> with humans, widening the horizon of our empathy toward other living beings.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nevertheless, the noted scientist never fell into reductionism<\/strong> toward the human being and, indeed, over the course of her life she cultivated a strong spiritual sensitivity<\/strong>, which emerged several times in her writings. She firmly rejected materialism<\/strong> and the idea of being able to explain life exclusively through science.<\/p>\n Not only did she report having perceived in animals a common “spiritual energy”, a spark she called “divine”, but she always identified a creative Intelligence<\/strong> behind nature itself.<\/p>\n She declared herself Christian (though not particularly devout) and in 2021 she won the Templeton Prize<\/strong> for having united spiritual curiosity<\/strong> with her scientific career and highlighted \u00aba deep connection\u00bb<\/i> between humans, animals and the environment that calls for a higher dimension.<\/p>\n On that occasion Goodall explained that<\/a><\/em><\/strong> \u00abreligion entered me\u00bb<\/i> at the age of 16, \u00abI felt I had a secret understanding of something that perhaps others did not share\u00bb<\/i>.<\/p>\n She was a great friend of the Christian geneticist Francis Collins<\/strong>, with whom she shared the idea \u00abthat we do not live in an exclusively materialistic<\/strong> world\u00bb<\/i>; it is not mere coincidence that \u00abin every single cell of the body there is a code of several billion instructions and there is no real reason why things should be as they are; random mutations<\/strong> could never lead to the complexity of life on Earth\u00bb<\/i>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The noted ethologist was indeed strongly convinced of a teleological evolution<\/strong>, guided by \u00aban intelligence behind the universe\u00bb<\/i>.<\/p>\n Her thinking on this is expressed in detail in the book “Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey”<\/i> (Grand Central Publishing 1999), written together with Phillip Berman.<\/p>\n In it Jane Goodall explained that research has always strengthened<\/strong> both her science and her faith1<\/a><\/sup>J. Goodall<\/b>, P. Berman<\/b>, “Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey”<\/i>, Grand Central Publishing 1999, p. 65<\/span> and that she never understood the incompatibility perceived by some between evolutionary theory and religion<\/strong>. Nor did she ever think that science disproved the existence of God2<\/a><\/sup>J. Goodall<\/b>, P. Berman<\/b>, “Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey”<\/i>, Grand Central Publishing 1999, p. 68<\/span>.<\/p>\n In the book the famous paleontologist delves into describing the moments in which she experienced transcendence<\/strong> when she found herself surrounded by nature: \u00abThe closer I get to animals and to nature the more I feel in tune with the spiritual force<\/strong> that I perceive around me3<\/a><\/sup>J. Goodall<\/b>, P. Berman<\/b>, “Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey”<\/i>, Grand Central Publishing 1999, p. 72<\/span>. <\/i><\/p>\n The days spent living with the chimpanzees, at the beginning of her research, she considered among the most significant of her life from a spiritual point of view, as well as scientific, and she expressed the firm conviction that human evolution<\/strong> was not guided by chance and necessity, rejecting the idea that our unique species is simply an “evolutionary mistake”.<\/p>\n Indeed, she wrote that in the universe there is \u00aba plan, a purpose for everything\u00bb<\/i>4<\/a><\/sup>J. Goodall<\/b>, P. Berman<\/b>, “Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey”<\/i>, Grand Central Publishing 1999, p. 93<\/span>.<\/p>\n
\nFar from reductive materialism<\/h2>\n
Jane Goodall, evolution and God<\/h2>\n