CHAPTER EIGHT
“SORRY,” the professor stated, looking upward. “Would you please repeat the question?”
Stacie slunk down in her seat. “The God Sequence,” she repeated, before clearing her throat.
Simon looked up toward the voice and saw his daughter trying to deflect any further inquiry. Very reluctantly, she inched forward in her chair.
Simon spoke up. “You want to know if Sophia will disprove the existence of the so-called God Sequence?” At this point, neither he nor the professor knew with whom they were speaking.
With Stacie’s verbal and physical prompts, Jennifer finally got the nerve to stand. “Uhm, isn’t it true,” Jennifer stuttered, before gaining a measure of composure. “Isn’t it true, Professor Nielson, that it is difficult to prove a negative?”
Simon looked up at Jennifer with trepidation. With their renewed relationship only hours old, he looked to the professor to carry the argument on his own.
“If you’re referring,” the professor answered, “to the well-known quote, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, I would counter with something offered by a mentor of mine. Carl Sagan suggested we should not so quickly indulge impatience with ambiguity. The null result is empirically significant.”
“That may be so,” Jennifer said, trying to get her argument off the ground.
“There is no may be so on this one, Ms. Taylor,” Professor Nielson interjected. “Inductive reasoning will be a valid means to defend your thesis.”
“Then what is this elusive ‘God Sequence’ if it is not simply a collection of genes which might determine one’s morality?” Jennifer asked. “I mean, maybe someday these rumours will be confirmed ˗ that the virtues are close to being mapped. Isn’t that what the tree of life is all about? Are we not all a work in progress, clinging to some branch, struggling toward becoming a better species … a higher being? Are we not all here to investigate that journey?” Jennifer asked, more confidently.
Although she was settling in with the attention she was now drawing, it still required some effort to remain focused. “I, for one, subscribe to the growing belief that certain genes influence different types of behaviours, good and bad, and that the love gene will not only be confirmed in humans, but many other species on that tree as well.”
Jennifer paused to regroup. She glanced at her father and was happy to recognize the expression on his face. Simon’s sense of pride was accentuated by a nod of encouragement.
“Yes, many of us have read the same rumours, Ms. Taylor,” Professor Nielson remarked. “And thank you for bringing this discussion back to today’s topic. Are you suggesting that love, as we know it, is present throughout the entire animal kingdom?”
“As we humans understand it, possibly not, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist in animals. I mean, who would deny it’s not in some form present in animals both domestic and wild. Instinct may be on one end of the continuum, Professor Nielson, but a more perfect version of love, possibly Divine, might indeed reside on the other.”
“Then is love more than just an emotion?” Simon asked.
“Research has already revealed that, like every emotion, love is an amplifier through which our experiences are committed to memory.”
“You seemed to have spent a lot of time on this subject, Ms. Taylor,” the professor stated. “I assume it will be the subject of your final paper?”
Professor Nielson turned to Simon and gave him a subtle nod of acknowledgement. “Does anyone else want to add any thoughts, provide any supporting examples to the discussion?” he asked.
“What about species which mate for life?” Judith asked. “A cohesive social structure is a well-documented survival advantage.”
“Excellent,” professor Nielson agreed.
“Studies have shown,” a male voice offered, “that many animals are acutely aware of their fellow species’ body language, visual responses. These are key survival mechanisms. If one can differentiate them, it stands to reason a species would possess their own reference points to interpret them.”
“There’s logic in your point, Mr. Stuart, thank you for that. Any more examples?”
Without any further opinions being offered, Professor Nielson turned to Simon. “What do you think, Doctor Taylor? Is science finally breaking free from the age of religion?”
“Possibly, although based on the resistance I’ve experienced in the field of genetics, I’m not quite sure. I have to say,” Simon added, smiling, “I still prefer peer review over traditional forms of judgement.”
Professor Nielson joined his class in appreciating his guest’s sense of humour. “Many would say we are living in the golden age of science; that without the burden imposed on Copernicus and Galileo we might one day achieve immortality itself.”
“That maybe so,” Simon agreed, “but if these great scientists taught us anything it is this ˗ pursue the science even when it is unpopular to do so, for in your discoveries you will find the truth about your world and yourself. If you value excellence, avoid shortcuts, especially the ones that draw you into the sphere of popular opinion. Treat the social contagion like it is a black hole. Defy its gravity and your name may become synonymous with those Professor Nielson just mentioned.”
“Wasn’t Bruno burned at the stake for his beliefs?” Judith interjected.
“He was,” Professor Nielson agreed. “Among his other 16th century assertions, he claimed that our sun was just one of many stars, that our universe contained an unimaginable number of habitable worlds.”
Professor Nielson noticed the time. His class was almost over. He looked up and noticed Jennifer was still standing. “Do you have anything further to add, Ms. Taylor?”
“If Bruno allowed me to further his claim, I would suggest one day we will discover another constant in our universe; that insofar as a higher life-form was inevitable on this planet, it will surely someday be discovered on another world. And when it is, we will find it is on the same continuum as we are, struggling toward a better version of their present existence.”
Professor Nielson looked somewhat bewildered. “You’re suggesting …”
“I am suggesting, Professor, that, similar to life itself, some day we will discover that love is a constant in our universe; that despite all attempts to prove otherwise, from this one realization will come the perfect marriage of science and spirituality.”
Looking downward, Jennifer realized her whole class was staring at her. They seemed stunned by her intelligent argument.
“That’s my girl,” Stacie said, proudly.
Jennifer feigned a smile, before looking beyond her class. Her father was the only one without a deadpanned expression. His smile beamed ear to ear.