Stephen Iacoboni

At the interface between physics and biology, one of the most vibrant areas of study is active matter. Ilya Prigogine, among the greatest scientists of the 20th century, laid the theoretical groundwork for “dissipative systems” over 50 years ago, describing how matter that absorbs energy can maintain a state of non-equilibrium in “self-organizing systems.” Reductionist science holds that life itself is just that: self-organizing. Over the last ten years, progress in the application of Prigogine’s work to biology has exploded. Solving the mystery of “self-organizing systems” beyond tornadoes and whirlpools and expanding it to the study of organisms is now underway.  Question Without an Answer For […]

In my most recent post in this series on the science of purpose, I concluded that the proper means of understanding our world requires that we include both purpose and necessity as fundamental elements of any comprehensive framework. I noted that the flagship phrase of 20th-century scientific atheism, as articulated by Nobel laureate Jaques Monod in his book Chance and Necessity, acknowledged necessity but explicitly and intentionally eliminated purpose from scientific dialogue.  Now some fifty years later we see that Monod’s paradigm has failed. And that the only possible way of understanding life on earth is to replace chance with purpose. Doing so reverses an epistemological trend stretching back almost 150 years. As such, it is incumbent that we fortify and […]

In earlier posts in this series on the science of purpose, I pointed out that dualities have been employed as fictions of language, a façon de parler, throughout the history of western science as a means of describing complex phenomena in terms compatible with our subject-object metaphysical (SOM) framework. But while these dualities have practical value, they actually confound our deeper understanding of physical reality. The best solution is the idea of the complementarity, where context-dependence is necessary to explain the observed phenomena.  Even something as basic as m (mass) itself illustrates this problem where it can either be a (gravitational) force in one context or […]

In previous posts in this series on the science of purpose, I have claimed that scientific atheism, aka scientism, emerged from the mistaken belief that randomly generated structure-function relationships (SFRs) were reducible to the neo-Darwinian randomness-selection hypothesis. I further argued that SFRs themselves must by definition rely on an inherent underlying duality which defines their very nature, such that a “relationship” must obtain when a structure randomly materializes, resulting “secondarily” in the consequent function. Thus came the mistaken claim that since all natural structure is derived from random processes, the resultant function must likewise be understood as random and unintended.  Here I will endeavor to point […]

In my last post on the science of purpose (“Emergence and Irreducible Complexity: A Unified Theory”), I pointed out that structure-function relationships, or SFRs, which lie at the very foundation of modern science, including biology, form the basis for describing “how things work,” from windmills to rockets to cats’ claws to enzymes. What’s missing is not the mechanics of structure-function relationships, which are rigorously understood, but the genesis of SFRs in organisms.  The genesis of structure-function relationships in human artifacts is as well understood as are their mechanics. Engineers design structures suitable to perform the desired function. That “design” is what Aristotle called telos, or […]

Few questions weigh heavier on the human heart than death. Is there anything beyond this life? How do we face death without fear? Dr. Stephen Iacoboni has wrestled with these questions every day for more than forty years as a medical oncologist. Once a committed scientific atheist, he sought answers in medicine, science, and humanism—only to find them insufficient in the face of mortality. Through the witness of his patients and the growing cracks in naturalistic explanations, Dr. Iacoboni came to embrace faith in God, discovering a hope that transforms both life and death. In this conversation, he shares his […]

On a new episode of ID the Future, I welcome Dr. Stephen Iacoboni, an award-winning cancer researcher and medical oncologist with 40 years of experience, to discuss the undeniable element of purpose in all living things. Our conversation dives deep into the question of whether this purpose can be explained purely by the physical world, or if it points to a source beyond nature and science. Dr. Iacoboni, who regularly contributes at Evolution News, shares his unique reconciliation between faith and science, as explored in his latest book, Telos: The Scientific Basis for a Life of Purpose. He recounts his personal journey and profound […]

As I have mentioned repeatedly in this series on the science of purpose, the debate between intelligent design (ID) and naturalism has shifted decidedly in favor of ID over just the past two decades.  I have warned that one of the few remaining avenues that naturalism can take to rescue its paradigm is to appropriate “purpose” within a materialist framework. Not surprisingly, an overt attempt is underway by atheist scientists to do just that. “Evolution on Purpose” MIT Press has recently published Evolution on Purpose, a collection of essays by leading theoretical biologists whose overt goal is to demonstrate how purpose, in the […]