Evolution project at the Nature Institute in New York
Evolution and spirituality are considered nowadays to be two topics which are completely separate from one other. Every day in the USA in particular an "evolution war" is going on – an unsuccessful battle between Darwinists and Creationists, the proponents of Intelligent Design (ID). The Nature Institute in New York has therefore been working on a project since 2014 to link evolution and spirituality to one another. In doing so, it builds on many years of experience in the field of holistic biology and the nature of life. The aim of the project is to identify middle ground between the two camps which takes into account the facts of modern science without being tied down by purely materialistic concepts.
The scientists involved in the Evolution project at the Nature Institute therefore look carefully into the developments in the life sciences with regard to genetics and evolution. In their publications they explain how materialistic interpretations create a distorted view of actual phenomena and describe dynamic, contextual and holistic processes even at the molecular level. A major concern of the Nature Institute is to understand evolution as an actual development process, i.e. changes to living processes over long periods. To this purpose, the scientists consider the subject from two different directions: on the one hand they examine the current development (ontogeny) using frogs in order to create from it a dynamic concept of the evolutionary process. On the other hand they explore the history of human fossils by studying and comparing various skull replicas with respect to major changes.
The findings from the research are also incorporated into the adult education courses of the Nature Institute. The Institute continually offers various courses and workshops for teachers, farmers, artists and any other interested parties which are held at both national and international locations, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil and South Africa. The courses are particularly popular among Waldorf school teachers and Demeter farmers.
PROJECT DETAILS
The Nature Institute
The Nature Institute was founded in 1998. It is dedicated to the development of a contextual and phenomenological scientific approach which is aimed at the reorientation of human thought and action in harmony with the wisdom of nature. The Institute conducts research, publishes scientific publications and offers educational programmes for adults.
What are the funds of the MAHLE FOUNDATION specifically used for?
The MAHLE FOUNDATION provided the Nature Institute with significant support during the first five years of its existence. Subsequently, the Foundation funded several smaller projects. The current Evolution project is also being funded by the MAHLE FOUNDATION, among others. The Foundation is assuming part of the project costs in its first year.