| Evolution's End
by Joseph Chilton Pearce Book reviewe by William B. Lindley
WARNING to freethinkers: there is a good deal of New-Age thinking in this book. This said, the book has a very important message for today, and you can get both the message and the facts behind it without soaking up the "metaphysics" that accompanies it. (I use "metaphysics" as a code word for alleged paranormal phenomena, supernatural or transcendental models of the universe and human brain, etc., things that the author endorses and I do not.) The subtitle of the book is Claiming the Potential of Our Intelligence. The book cover of the paperback edition has almost no hint of the "metaphysics"; on the front it reads "A galvanizing indictment of how we are sabotaging our children's development and our society's future that will transform the way we think about our families, schools, and lives." The book, taken as a whole, covers a lot more territory, including, of course, the author's unconventional worldview. Thus, one who bought the book on the cover alone might feel cheated upon starting to read it. Part One, which takes up about half the book, contains lots of very interest-ing brain physiology and some paranormal material, but scarcely a peep about how we are ruining our children. Part Two, however, delivers the goods. From this part, I have compiled a list of the crimes that society (that is, our institutions carrying on business as usual) commits against babies and young children, crimes that inflict irreparable neurological damage, stifle development, and guarantee that these human beings will not achieve their full original potential. Here it is: 1. Rockabye Teddybear (a stuffed animal with a recorded heartbeat to imitate the mother's heartbeat that the baby knows well and that should be there). 2. Failure to put baby at mother's left breast right after birth. 3. Failure to breast-feed (many times a day!-promotes bonding; humans are unlike other mammals in nutritional content of milk, and the difference makes frequent breast-feeding a necessity). Breast-feeding also builds the baby's immune system, while alternates to it do not. 4. Cutting the umbilical cord too soon. It can supply the baby with needed oxygen long after birth. No need for spanking! 5. Orientation of the mother's body at birth in the hospital. 6. Circumcision. For this last item, the author cites our own magazine, the July-August 1989 issue of Truth Seeker, the genital mutilation issue, edited by Dr. James Prescott. Note that the above six items are all connected with unnatural (hospital) childbirth, which the author considers to be the number one crime against human beings getting their start in life. 7. Angry parental response to the toddler's totally-absorbed learning, which may be noisy or destructive. (The author provides on p. 238 a list of alternate schools that recognize and satisfy this particular toddler need.) The overreaction of the parent breaks the child's will, the will to explore and overcome obstacles, a trait much needed later in life. 8. Not telling stories or reading out loud (to children aged 2-5). 9. Direct discouragement of "intuition" (the author's definition of this word) between the ages of 4 and 7. (I might be one of the criminals, as what the author is getting at here is definitely paranormal-precognition and the like.) 10. Demands that the young, concretely-oriented child think abstractly. 11. Competitive team sports for ages seven through eleven. 12. TELEVISION! The primary damage is neurological, not content, especially for very young children. Content (e.g., violence, sexual suggestiveness, etc.) does its damage somewhat later. 13. Too many toys. This one may be just the author's grouch, but he claims that all those extra toys suppress imagination. 14. Commercial exploitation of kids as a follow-on to items 12 and 13. 15. Growth hormones in food, which are known to have accelerated the onset of puberty in human beings. Part One provides a review of the brain, how humans use it, and how the brain activity is related to human experience. He emphasizes the "triune brain," based on the fact that there are three parts of the brain, each a result of evolutionary development: the R-system (reptilian), the limbic system (mammalian) and the cortex, which in humans is huge. He takes note of many odd facts: of idiot savants, the Eureka experience in scientific discovery, dreams, altered states of consciousness, hypnotic phenomena, sight, sound, and electrically evoked memories. Part One also introduces his "metaphysical" system, which claims that the frontal lobes of the neocortex can interact with the "universal soup source," that which is running the whole universe. Part One is designed as preparatory to Part Two, where the crimes against babies are described. In the main it does a good job: say, three parts brain physiology to one part paranormal stuff. (In Part Two, the author makes the interesting remark that the para-normal, while real, is "random": we are to it as the idiot savant is to his accomplishments; we cannot (now) use it systematically or build upon it.) Part Three, consisting of only two chapters, is all "metaphysics." Two of the author's favorite people are Bernadette Roberts, prominently mentioned in this part, and Larry Dossey. Those who want to know more about the author's worldview can look for books by these two people, as well as the author's The Crack in the Cosmic Egg and other works. The author's favorite Eastern religion appears to be Kashmir Shaivism. Another favorite person of the author's is David Bohm, quantum physicist, to whom the book is dedicated. David Bohm has an unconventional interpretation of quantum mechanics, not necessarily supernatural, which may yet win the day. Evolution's End. Harper Collins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022. ISBN 0-06-250732-X paperback ©1992, 266 pp.
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