From Decline of the West to Dawn of Day: Dan Brown's Origin as a Diagnostic of the Present - Hub Zwart
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JANUS HEAD
From Decline of the
West to Dawn of Day:
Dan Brown’s Origin as
a Diagnostic of the
Present
Hub Zwart
All rights reserved. Copyright © 2020 by Trivium Publications, Pittsburgh, PA
53
JANUS HEAD
ABSTRACT
This paper subjects Dan Brown’s most recent
novel Origin to a philosophical reading. Origin is
regarded as a literary window into contemporary
technoscience, inviting us to explore its
transformative momentum and disruptive impact,
focusing on the cultural significance of artificial
intelligence and computer science: on the way in
which established world-views are challenged by
the incessant wave of scientific discoveries made
possible by super-computation. While initially
focusing on the tension between science and
religion, the novel’s attention gradually shifts to the
increased dependence of human beings on smart
technologies and artificial (or even “synthetic”)
intelligence. Origin’s message, I will argue,
reverberates with Oswald Spengler’s The Decline
of the West, which aims to outline a morphology of
world civilizations. Although the novel starts with a
series of oppositions, most notably between religion
and science, the eventual tendency is towards
convergence, synthesis and sublation, exemplified
by Sagrada Família as a monumental symptom of
this transition. Three instances of convergence will
be highlighted, namely the convergence between
science and religion, between humanity and
technology and between the natural sciences and
the humanities.
Keywords:
Dan Brown;
Decline of the West;
Artificial Intelligence;
Synthetic Intelligence;
Origin of Life;
Philosophy of Culture
54 JANUS HEAD
JANUS HEAD
From Decline of the West to Dawn of Day: Dan
Brown’s Origin as a Diagnostic of the Present
Introduction explored and assessed. Although initially the past in order to develop a prognostics
Dan Brown is an American novelist focussing on the tension between science of the future (p. 3). All world historical
famous for authoring best-sellers such as and religion, the novel’s attention gradu- constellations, Spengler argues, begin
The Da Vinci Code (2003), The Lost Symbol ally shifts to the increased dependence of as a local phenomenon (as “culture”), but
(2009) and Inferno (2013). Origin (2017) is human beings on smart technologies and gradually expand into a style of thinking
his fifth novel featuring Robert Langdon artificial (or even “synthetic”) intelligence. which affects a whole world (“civilisation”),
(a Harvard expert in religious iconog- Origin is a techno-thriller with a message, until an inevitable process of decline and
raphy) as key protagonist. Dan Brown’s conveying a diagnostic of the present decadence sets in. Spengler’s objective
two most recent novels can be regarded and a prognostic of the future, claiming is to perform historical research in a
as science novels, moreover, describing that we are on the cusp of a global cultur- way that is comparable to how Johann
the inner dynamics and transformative al transition, exemplified (spiritually and Wolfgang von Goethe performed plant
socio-cultural impact of contemporary architecturally) by Sagrada Famíla, the research (p. 34), namely by focussing on
research fields: virology in the case of In- last of the great Cathedrals, the Omega a limited set of typical cultural forms:
ferno, artificial intelligence in the case of point in spiritual architecture, but also on a particular Gestalt, recognisable in
Origin. In these novels, Robert Langdon a building which, according to Brown’s all stages and domains of a particular
(a humanities professor) is confronted novel, heralds the next quantum leap in culture. Spengler’s method is also compa-
with a scientific genius (Bertrand Zobrist human culture, announcing something rable to the work of Goethe’s friend and
in Inferno, Edmond Kirsch in Origin) who completely different: the dawn of a contemporary Alexander von Humboldt
is about to reveal an unsettling scientific new civilisation, a new style of thinking. (1845-1862), who characterised the
breakthrough to a global audience, Whereas the previous epoch was an era overall physiognomy (Gesamtbild) of
thereby inciting the animosity of influ- of negativity and conflict (science versus global landscape types. Spengler’s aim
ential organisations representing the religion, science versus art, technology is to discern the typical gestalt or physi-
global establishment: the World Health versus nature, etc.), the new era purports ognomy of a particular culture: the basic
Organisation in Inferno, the Parliament of to be one of convergence (of syncretism formula which determines all its practices
the World’s Religions in Origin. even): of science and art, technology and and expressions, the distinctive form
nature, science and religion, and so on. which pervades all the research fields, art
This paper subjects Origin to a phil- And Sagrada Famíla, with its biomimetic forms and political institutions to which a
osophical reading. Brown’s novel, I will design (p. 279), its “living architecture” of particular culture (gradually evolving into
argue, can be regarded as a literary win- “almost biological quality” (p. 235), cap- a world civilisation) gives rise.
dow into contemporary technoscience, tures this transition towards convergence
inviting us to explore its transformative From a philosophical perspective,
in stone. Spengler’s approach concurs with Hegel’s
momentum and disruptive impact
(Zwart 2019a). While Inferno focusses on Conceptual framework view that a core idea realises itself at a
the societal risks and benefits of biomo- certain historical stage. This idea is like a
Origin’s message, I will argue, re- force or program which manifests itself
lecular technoscience, Origin addresses verberates with Oswald Spengler’s The
the cultural relevance of science: the as a particular worldview and zeitgeist
Decline of the West, subtitled “Outlines of (Hegel 1832/1970). Another philosoph-
way in which established world-views a morphology of world history”, the first
are challenged by the incessant wave ical source of inspiration was Friedrich
part of which was published a century Nietzsche who, in Beyond Good and Evil
of scientific discoveries facilitated by ago (Spengler 1918). As indicated by its
computer science. The novel can be (1886/1980, § 23) already presented his
subtitle, Spengler’s classic presents a own thinking as a “morphology” of the
regarded as a literary laboratory, where “morphology” of civilisations (1918, p. 4):
technology-driven scenarios are enacted, Will to Power. Although Spengler himself
a form of historiography which studies was critical of these precursors (rebuking
55JANUS HEAD
both Hegel and Nietzsche for their insuf- Empire. During this upscaling period, Edmond Kirsch Ambra Vidal
ficient understanding and appreciation however, a rival culture already began
of mathematics compared to Baroque to take shape, referred to by Spengler as (science) (art)
philosophers such as Descartes and Lei- Magical thinking, exemplified by medie-
bniz),1 his morphology can be regarded val Christianity and Islam, with astrology, Robert Bishop
as a dialectical genealogy of worldviews. numerology and alchemy as key areas of
Every civilisation entails a transvalua- inquiry. “Waiting for the Kingdom” was its Langdon Valdespino
tion of values (1918, p. 451), Spengler basic formula, for individuals spent their
contends, negating and sublating what lives in detachment, preparing them- (humanities) (religion)
existed before into something wholly selves (via ascetic practices and spiritual
new. Moreover, Spengler predicted that exercises) for the coming of a wholly In the prologue of the novel, Edmond
the present “Faustian” culture, as a ma- different era. The subsequent Faustian Kirsch pays a visit to the monastery of
terialisation of the Will to Power, driven culture originated in the late medieval Montserrat (about 45 kilometres north-
by disruptive expansion and exponential period, exemplified by gothic cathedrals west of Barcelona, famous for its statue
growth, by powerful machinery and in- in the realm of architecture and by gothic of the Black Virgin, but also for serving
dustrial labour, is about to be eclipsed by experimental research (scientia exper- as the Grail Castle in Wagner’s Parsifal).
a new type of culture, a new Dawn of Day, imentalis) in the natural sciences. This Besides beings a celebrity scientist and
as Nietzsche (1881/1980) phrased it – a style of thinking was driven by the Will to a militant atheist, Edmond is famous for
theme which is taken up by contempo- Power as its guiding idea and formula. As his gift for prognostication, i.e. his accu-
rary philosophers such as Peter Sloterdijk indicated, however, Spengler predicted rate predictions of imminent scientific
(1999), whose “spherical” approach to that Faustian culture is now heading for breakthroughs. He travels to Montserrat
history builds explicitly on Spengler’s decline, and the big question therefore is: to meet a delegation of representatives
classic. what comes next? Is it possible to discern of the Parliament of the World’s Religions,
the contours of a new emerging culture? led by Bishop Valdespino. Edmond grants
In this paper I will argue that artistic doc- them a preview of a multimedia video-re-
uments such as Dan Brown’s novel, pub- cording which he is about to release and
lished a century after Spengler’s book, which allegedly solves the riddle of the
may help us to assess this transition in origin of life. Edmond is an outspoken
more detail. Origin provides a diagnostic critic of all religions and it is as if he puts
of the present while presenting an the trump card on the table which he is
outline of the dawning era (a prognostic about to play. Although Valdespino and
of the future), notably by focussing on a his colleagues find the content quite
decisive factor, something Spengler was disturbing, Edmond is determined to
Although Spengler purports to develop not yet aware of, namely the transfor- present his video (urbi et orbi as it were)
a global perspective of history, the mative role of computers and other hy- to an elite audience (“hundreds of VIPs”,
focus is nonetheless on Western civili- per-intelligent, post-Faustian machines. p. 12) assembled in the Guggenheim mu-
sations, which are described as a series seum at Bilbao, while the global crowd
of historical constellations, each with a Summary will be able to witness the livestreamed
recognisable profile of its own, as indicat- and meticulously choreographed event
The narrative of Dan brown’s novel on-line.
ed in the scheme on the right (adopted
is dominated by four key characters.
from Zwart 2005). Apollonian culture Edmond’s objective is not only to
Besides Robert Langdon, the Harvard
was guided by the idea that a perfect prove that the origin of life can be scien-
professor of symbolism (representing the
geometric structure can be discerned in tifically explained, but also that religion
humanities), the novel features Edmond
nature conceived as κόσμος (i.e. order: a is about to be made obsolete by science.
Kirsch, a 40-year old billionaire expert in
harmonious, spherical world), a structure His message is that the transformative
game theory and computer modelling
which human art, ethics and politics impact of artificial intelligence will finally
from MIT (representing science), while
should mimic. “Act in accordance with decide the time-old gigantomachia
the two other key roles are played by
nature” was its basic formula, and Greek between science and religion, in favour
Ambra Vial, Director of the Guggenheim
geometry its guiding research field. The of the former. Thus, Edmond expects that
museum in Bilbao (representing art) and
Apollonian worldview was preceded by his discovery will significantly contribute
Bishop Antonio Valdespino of Almudena
the Dionysian one: by the contrasting to the twilight and downfall of theistic
Cathedral, Madrid, spiritual advisor of the
experience of nature as obscure, violent worldviews.
Spanish King (representing religion):
and chaotic. Apollonian culture evolved
Being a close friend of Edmond, Rob-
into a world civilisation via the Roman
ert Langdon is invited to the VIP event,
1. “Goethe hasste die Mathematik” (Spengler 1918, p. 34); “Hegel [ist] völlig unmathematisch … von Nietzsche ganz zu schweigen”, p. 472).
56 JANUS HEADJANUS HEAD
organised by museum director Ambra employ the truth of science to eradicate
Vidal, who also happens to be the Spanish the myth of religion” (p. 53). He sees God
crown prince’s fiancée. When Robert en- as a symptom of the fact that humankind
ters the Guggenheim museum, however, is inclined to raise questions which seem
he has the uncomfortable feeling of being too big to answer (Where do we come
watched by the countless video cameras from? Where are we going?). As Edmond
surrounding him. He feels like an “unwit- phrases it during his lecture: if we ask a
ting participant” in an experiment, like a supercomputer to solve the question of
rat in a maze (p. 46). Edmond uses these the origin of life, the machine will prob-
cameras to carefully monitor the impact ably answer something like: “insufficient
his announcement will make on the au- data for accurate response” (p. 87). If you
dience. Meanwhile, another experiment ask this little biological computer (i.e.
is being conducted as well: a Turing test, the human brain) this same question,
to be exact. Upon entering the museum, however, something else happens, and wood engraving in Camille Flammarion’s
Robert receives a minimalised headset (“a Kirsch’s presentation produces a stream book L’atmosphère: météorologie popu-
sleek loop of metal with tiny pads at each of religious images. Humans feel uncom- laire, published in 1888 (depicted on the
end”, p. 25) which connects him with the fortable when faced with uncertainties right). Ávila has a mission of fulfil. Acting
voice of a personal assistant: a custom- and therefore our brains are prone to on the orders of an enigmatic authorita-
ised, interactive guide, who introduces invent imaginary, theistic explanations. tive voice (the Regent), the Admiral grabs
himself as Winston: a disembodied voice, Although Edmond’s presentation is his 3-D-printed polymer gun (invisible to
a product of “synthetic intelligence”, the announced as highly innovative, it actual- metal detectors), takes aim and kills the
latest android development in the world ly reflects a standard or even stereotypical scientist on the spot, thereby unleashing
of artificial intelligence. Bone conduction account, already initiated by Plato in his a tsunami of conspiracy theories (with
technology produces a startling effect: as simile of the cave (1935/2000, 514). Hu- Bishop Valdespino consistently serving as
if a voice is speaking “inside your head” (p. mans prefer misleading images and cap- prime suspect), while turning Edmond
25). Winston not only provides detailed tivating stories to rationally convincing into a scientific martyr.
Wikipedia-like information upon request, explanations. They rather follow religious Edmond’s legacy, the video-mes-
but also seems a connoisseur of art, com- icons than the iconoclastic equations of sage, must be stored somewhere on his
bining intelligence and encyclopaedic science. According to Edmond, science ultra-secure server, accessible via his iP-
knowledge with humour. Robert is the is the antithesis of faith. But now, as the hone. This device can only be activated via
guinea pig (“Mr. Kirsch wanted to test my age of religion is drawing to a close, the an unknown password composed of 47
abilities on you”, p. 48), but Winston easily age of science is finally dawning after all. characters. If the recording of Edmond’s
passes the test. He speaks and acts like a And tonight, he announces, humankind discovery (the high-visibility climax event
genuine human being. Moreover, as the is about to make a quantum leap in this of his research) can be retrieved, the mes-
story unfolds, he becomes increasingly direction. sage may proliferate (go viral) after all.
powerful, cunning and influential.2
Somehow, however, the name of a His violent death will certainly add mo-
Edmond begins his video-lecture by Spanish admiral named Ávila has secretly mentum to the global impact. His friends
deriding deities in general and the God been added to the guest list, a devote Robert and Ambra therefore set out to
of Christianity in particular, referring to follower of an ultra-conservative Catholic retrieve the video message. Their journey
Him as the “God of the gaps” (p. 83). In sect: the Palmarian Church. While Ed- brings them to Barcelona: to Gaudi’s Case
his view, this God is a fictitious entity mond is presenting his discovery (“a para- Milà (where they discover that Edmond
produced to cover up the remaining digm shift … on the scale of the Coperni- was terminally ill and about to die within
gaps in our scientific explanations of can revolution”, p. 52; a “global moment”, days, suffering from pancreatic cancer), to
the world. Although (due to scientific p. 101, etc.), Ávila uses his razor blade to the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre3
progress) God’s territory has significantly cut a slit in the fabric covering the audito- (Edmond’s high-tech facility located in a
shrunken, there are still a few holes to fill, rium. When he parts the opening, he decommissioned “smart church”, p. 361),
and one of them concerns the question peers into “another world” (p. 91), a scene and, finally, to Sagrada Família.
of the origin of life. Here, there still seems reminiscent of the famous (anonymous) In the computing centre they discov-
to be some room for the idea that a
er E-Wave: Edmond’s superfast quantum
divine intervention infused a spark of life
computer, a symbiosis of a genius mind
into inorganic nature, 3.9 billion years
and a powerful machine, enabling
ago. Edmond’s vocation, however, is “to
2. Winston is described as “Siri on steroids” (p. 175), a reference to Apple’s version of an intelligent assistant.
3. The Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC/Centro Nacional de Supercomputación) really exists, hosting the MareNostrum supercomputer, located in a former
chapel named Torre Girona. Cf. Brown’s disclaimer at the beginning of the novel: “All art, architecture, locations, science and religious organisations are real” (2017,
p. 3). MareNostrum is “incorporated” into E-Wave (p. 364).
57JANUS HEAD
unprecedented advances in science, search for a target, using gadgets such about the fifty-year mark, the first hints of
especially in the field of complex systems as head-sets and iPhones as temporary RNA become visible (p. 391).
modelling. E-Wave represents a “quantum hosts. Edmond then adds another “final in-
leap beyond NASA/Google’s D-Wave” and Edmond’s E-Wave computer allowed gredient” to the mixture, namely entropy
its uncanny pulsations sound like “the him to make his “Copernican” discovery. (p. 391), the universal process of inevi-
beating of a human heart” (p. 371). Its First of all, he decided to replicate the Mill- table and relentless decay. The entropy
location (in Barcelona) is no coincidence er-Urey experiment, originally conducted principle implies that everything that is
either, for in cultural terms it represents in 1953: a chemical reconstruction of the ordered is bound to return to dust and to
a modernistic / surrealistic competitor so-called primordial soup. In their famous dissipate into molecular debris. Against
to the power bastions of Madrilenian experiment, Stanley Miller and his collab- the backdrop of an entropic world, the
Baroque. E-Wave is the new Master, for orator Harold Urey simulated in vitro the question emerges how something as
the days of in silico power are dawning. chemical conditions that once existed on complex, sophisticated and intricate as
This computer is Winston, in a way, a lifeless, abiotic Earth, four billion years living organisms can emerge and stay
but, as Winston himself argues, no more ago. Would their test tubes allow them intact with inconceivable persistency.
than our physical brain is us, if we could to answer the question how “the earliest According to Edmond, in its efforts to
somehow observe it in a bowl (p. 373). specks of life” (p. 385) had been infused promote disorder, nature creates pockets
Edmond leapfrogged his rivals with into the primordial soup? Allegedly, the of order, namely living systems, because
this machine by using bicameralism, for experiment faltered, but in 2007, a group in the long run they escalate rather than
E-Wave is a synthetic brain that mimics of scientists re-examined the sealed reduce the chaos. Life is an effective tool
the two-lobbed, bicameral human brain vials from the original experiments with for dissipating energy, it is an entropic
(p. 372). Bicameralism is what makes us so more sensitive equipment (spectroscopy, machine. And here, a reference is made
creative, but it also explains why humans liquid chromatography) and discovered to a really existing scientist, namely bio-
are both rational and religious beings.4 that much more amino acids had been physicist Jeremy England (MIT), notably
While the rational part of the brain is produced in Miller’s original experiments to his work on quantum biology and “dis-
susceptible to scientific equations, the than Miller himself had realised. sipation-driven adaptive organisation”
other part is intuitive and imaginative; Edmond takes the experiment a (p. 394).6 As soon as entropy is added to
and therefore sensitive to religious significant step further, however. First of the equation, amino acids begin to take
iconography. all by adding a factor that was missing shape even faster, evolving into protein
In short, this smart church is a rather in the original set-up, namely time. Life chains and, eventually, nucleotides. In Ed-
remarkable entity. If the supercomputer must have required thousands of years to mond’s computer model, after a million
is like a brain, the building as such is like originate in such a mixture. This missing years or so, the double-helix of DNA can
a skull (a camera obscura). In the natural factor can now be added with the help be seen, the living code of biology: “an
situation, however, our voice emerges in of complex systems modelling. In other entropy tool making copies of itself” (p.
an orifice (the mouth) which is located words, while Miller and Urey conducted 399).
close to the brain. In the case of E-Wave, their experiment in vitro, Edmond’s Structure of the Novel
however, these components (these replication experiment is carried out in
partial objects) have dissipated through silico. Edmond’s E-Wave computer allows Before subjecting the novel to a close
space. Winston’s disembodied, “extimate” science to “fast-forward” the original ex- philosophical reading, it will be helpful
voice5 is audible in Bilbao, as an organ periment (p. 391). Computer modelling is to outline its basic structure. In terms of
without a body, entering Robert’s mind a kind of “time machine” (p. 390), Edmond Freytag’s dramatic arc (Freytag 1863), the
(Brown 2017, p. 25), but his brain (E-Wave) argues, able to compress and accelerate novel begins with an exposition stage,
remains in Barcelona. In the digital era, time. By combining chemistry and introducing the four key characters listed
partial objects (such as voice and cortex) computer modelling, Edmond intends to above, and providing a detailed descrip-
disconnect themselves from their wet, bi- demonstrate how life originated, without tion of the Guggenheim museum as a
ological environment, but also from each divine intervention. Life can indeed be dramatic setting. Subsequently, we see
other. Winston’s disembodied (uncannily created in the lab by combining chem- a rise of dramatic tension when Edmond
human) voice floats through space in istry and computer power (p. 389). At delivers his presentation. This upward
curve is suddenly interrupted, however,
4. Cf. Nietzsche: the human brain should be bicameral (“Eine höhere Kultur [muss] dem Menschen ein Doppelgehirn, gleichsam zwei Hirnkammern geben, einmal
um Wissenschaft, sodann um Nicht-Wissenschaft zu empfinden … es ist dies eine Forderung der Gesundheit” (Nietzsche 1878/1980, § 251).
5. “Extimate” technologies are high-tech gadgets worn close to the body. They are both intimate and external; both embedded and foreign; both enhancing and
intrusive (Zwart 2017a). In Origin the personalised guide is described as “intimate and immersive” (Brown 2017, p. 28), turning a museum visit into a “seamless”
experience.
6. Although his publication on self-replication and entropy (England 2013) drew much attention (Wolchover 2014), England (a religious scientist) does not
recognise himself in his literary doppelgänger. On his website, he states his position as follows: “Professor Jeremy England was not consulted or involved in any
way during the creation of Dan Brown’s book Origin, and he did not consent to the use of his name therein. Shortly before the book was published, he was made
aware of a fictional character in Mr. Brown’s book who is also an MIT professor named Jeremy England” [https://www.englandlab.com/press.html]
58 JANUS HEADJANUS HEAD
by Admiral Ávila’s assault. During the hip” (p. 6). The word ‘hip’ produces a polite
subsequent intermezzo, Robert and Am- smile on Edmond’s face, for it “went out
bra desperately search for the code that of style decades ago” (idem). Valdespino’s
will allow them to recover the video-mes- stereotypical expectation concurs with
sage. As soon as Edmond’s presentation Nietzsche’s claim (in Genealogy of Morals
goes on-line again, however, the focus III, § 23, and elsewhere) that scientists are
gradually shifts from dramatic action to basically ascetics. Rather than being anti-
reflection (the denouement stage): thetical to religious asceticism, Nietzsche
(1887/1980) argued, modern scientific
Thus, the research represents its latest version, for
dramatic action it entails self-sacrifice, manual labour,
not only involves dedicated devotion and hard work. For
characters (their Nietzsche, modern scientists play a role
vicissitudes and similar to that of monks and hermits in
interactions), but medieval times: they sacrifice pleasure
also symbols: and health to knowledge production,
imprisoned in their laboratories, chained
to their experimental machines (Zwart
2019b).
In the next Edmond’s appearance fails to com-
sections, I will ply with this image. Although his daily
analyse Origin in habits reflect a maniacal work ethic (p.
more detail, ar- 244), while his research practice is tied
guing that, al- up with an impressive machine, he is also
Besides this dramatic curve, another though the novel starts with a series of consistently presented as an outspokenly
structural device is at work in the novel. oppositions, most notably between reli- mundane individual, a connoisseur of
All characters and themes in the novel gion and science, the eventual tendency art, fashion and high culture. His profile
are represented by a particular symbol, is towards convergence, sublation and merges the ascetic aura of science with
in accordance with Robert’s field of synthesis. Three instances of convergence the aristocratic image of a Nietzschean
expertise (“symbology”). These symbols will be highlighted, namely the conver- free-thinker, someone committed to an
play a role comparable to the musical gence between science and religion (1), exuberant life-style. During his meeting
motifs in Wagner operas. As soon as a between humanity and technology (2) with Valdespino, he wears a Kiton K50 suit
certain symbol presents itself, a certain and between the natural sciences and and Barker ostrich shoes (p. 6). Later we
mood or ambiance unfolds. Edmond’s the humanities (3). learn that he owns an extremely expen-
symbol, for instance, is a cuneiform sive and sophisticated
Assyrian pictogram, indicating that evo- self-driving car (Tesla
lution (represented by a fish) is about to Model X P90D) as well
swallow (the symbol for) God. His militant as a Gulfstream G550
atheism, moreover, is represented by a private jet, and that
stylised A (inserted below), a symbol of he inhabits expensive
apostasy which is adopted by many of houses. He is also an
his followers. In a similar vein, Admiral “insatiable bibliophile”
Ávila is represented by a monogram (p. 13) whose “stunning
composed of letter signifying “victory” library” (p. 242) con-
(inserted below as well). Likewise, Gaudí’s tains priceless books
symbolic signature is the infinity sign (a and artworks (from a
Möbius-ring, topologically speaking), famous Gauguin up to
while the discussion on entropy unfolds the hand-written origi-
under the sway of the entropy symbol: nal of Blake’s collected
Convergence 1: Science and religion works). In short, Edmond is an ascetic
(Sagrada Família) hermit whose profile at the same time
When (during the prologue) Bishop concurs with the image of a Renaissance
Valdespino welcomes Edmond Kirsch Prince. In Hegelian terms: he is a master
on the train platform near Montserrat, rather than a servant, someone whose
he seems puzzled. “I was expecting a sci- expensive habits convey a sense of gran-
entist”, he confesses, “but you’re quite … deur and even vanity.
59JANUS HEAD
Yet, he definitely represents the tallest one in Europe in fact. According It is a bottom-up, rather than a hierarchi-
iconoclastic tendency of modern science, to Spengler (1918), medieval cathedrals cal (top-down) construction. Not only
challenging the baroque absolutism represented the dawn of what he referred because it combines traditional elements
of Spanish Catholicism embodied by to as “Faustian” civilisation. They material- (nave, transept, pillars, altar, etc.) with art
Valdespino. According to Edmond, sci- ised the Faustian striving for verticality, nouveau features, but also because it is
ence is about to obliterate the imaginary for height. Sagrada Família complies with not formally a cathedral. In order to be
idols: the gods of the gaps, produced by this, but at the same time, it is a wholly proclaimed as such, it should be the seat
humans to come to terms with anything different type of cathedral, post-Faus- of a bisshop. Its most striking bottom-up
beyond their grasp. Edmond’s E-Wave tian one could say: a window into an feature, however, is that this remarkable
machine will marginalise religion once emerging future, first of all because of its building seems to build itself, seems to
and for all, he claims, thus completing biomimetic design (p. 279). It is a psyche- emerge in an organic fashion, almost like
the process that was started by Galileo’s delic forest, a jungle of columns, coloured a living being, which still continues to
telescope in early modern times: a con- glass and symbols. Like all cathedrals, it grow. When Gaudí died in 1926, less than
trivance which not only enabled new is a Gesamtkunstwerk, a total work of art, a quarter of the building was completed.
forms of astronomical research, but also but now in the form of a syncretic collage, And although the structure depends on
unsettled the established world-view. not only of spirituality and science, but human contributions no doubt, it seems
Edmond’s performance clearly adheres to also of nature and technology. The latter to attract them. It is a concept or idea
the so-called “conflict thesis” which main- is exemplified by its spiralling staircase (εἶδος) which to a large extent seems
tains that there is an intrinsic intellectual for instance. During the Faustian period, to realise itself (like the Grail temple in
conflict between religion and science. under the sway of experimental science Parsifal).
Although largely discredited by academ- (scientia experimentalis) which, according From a Spenglerian viewpoint, the
ic historians, the thesis still finds ample to Spengler, surfaced in the fourteenth following passage in Dan Brown’s novel is
support among popular science authors century A.D., technology and nature had especially notworthy:
(Brooke 1991). For Edmond, the struggle become increasingly antithetical. Nota-
between science and religion (initiated by bly during the industrial revolution (the Langdon found himself wondering
Galileo and other scientific pioneers) has climax of the Faustian era), technology if perhaps Sagrada Família – like the
now entered its final stage. Once upon a became increasingly disruptive, giving Pantheon of Rome – might become
time, religion must have seemed omnip- rise to the current ecological crisis. The a flashpoint for transition, a building
otent, while research practices such as Sagrada Família symbolises something with one foot in the past and one in
astronomy were conducted in service of new, namely biomimetic architecture: the future, a physical bridge between
religion and expected to verify religious architecture with a biological quality. a dying faith and an emerging one (p.
and ideological claims. Modern science With its cell-like structures, the ceiling 455).
managed to emancipate itself, however, resembles a complex organism viewed
and increasingly, science and religion be- through a microscope (p. 454). The pillars
came antithetical. Science is now making seem to grow out of the earth and Gaudi’s
the God of the gaps superfluous. tiles seem to resemble a primordial sea. It
In the course of the novel it becomes is an evolving building, symbolising the
clear, however, that the relationship technologies of the future, reconnected
between science and religion is much with nature (p. 455).
more ambiguous. To begin with: for
an American atheist, Edmond seems
unusually obsessed with Spanish Ca- In Spengler’s Decline of the West, the
tholicism (p. 250). When Langdon enters Pantheon indeed plays a similar (trans-
the avant-garde Guggenheim museum formative) role. The Pantheon is first of
(Edmond’s carefully chosen battlefield for all an Apollonian, spherical building
the final encounter), he experiences the because it was the Centre of Rome, the
building as a “futuristic cathedral” (p. 24). centre of the roman sphere of influence,
Something similar applies to the “smart the core of a spherical world, a circular
church” (p. 361) which houses the E-Wave space located in the centre of a spherical
supercomputing centre while retaining universe, radiating power, a theological
its aura as a spiritual ambiance: it is a magnet, incorporating and absorbing all
fusion of science and religion. The Sagrada Familia is without doubt the spiritual powers of the Empire (for
The tendency towards re-conver- a very remarkable “thing” (Heidegger Pantheon means Πάνθειον, a temple
gence is exemplified by Antoni Gaudí’s 1950/2000), as a monument which en- for “all the gods”). The Pantheon was
Sagrada Família. On the one hand, it ables a coming together, a gathering: not the primary spherical shape in a series
is a cathedral, a catholic church, the a VIP event, but a spontaneous asembly. of concentric spheres, encompassing
60 JANUS HEADJANUS HEAD
everything spiritual, and therefore the unify, illuminate, and raise us up, rather Convergence 2: humanity and technolo-
acme of what Spengler (1918) referred than destroy us (p. 455). gy (Technium)
to as “Apollonian” civilisation, a style of The second tension to be explored in
thinking which discerned a harmonious It is as if, in the struggle between sci-
ence and religion, a tipping point has more detail is the one between humanity
design in nature as cosmos (κόσμος liter- and technology. Here again, a dialectical
ally means “order” in Greek). The Pantheon been reached: “as if religious thought
had just traversed the farthest reaches unfolding can be discerned. Initially,
reflects a normative idea, namely that this technology (represented by Winston /
perfect order (the Apollonian topology of of its orbit and was now circling back,
wearied from its long journey, and finally E-Wave) seems to be in service of (and
the cosmos) should be mimicked by hu- respectful of ) human agency. Winston
man architecture, theology and politics. coming home” (456). This is reflected
by sentences such as “I feel as if I’m (the product of synthetic intelligence) is
At the same time, Spengler argues, this the perfect personal assistance, making
highlight of Apollonian architecture was seeing a living footprint … of some
great force beyond our grasp” (p. 436). life easier for all its users. E-Wave enables
the beginning of something new, for the Edmond to make the final leap in what
Pantheon was also the first prototypical he sees as the emancipation of science
copula, the primordial mosque (1918, p. from religion. Thus, human intelligence
274, p. 461; cf. Sloterdijk 1999, p. 450), the employs technology, while technology
paradigm for a new type of sacred space, basically serves human beings (M1). In the
announcing a new era of civilisation, re- course of the novel, however, this rather
ferred to by Spengler as the “magical” era, naïve and one-sided understanding of
exemplified by medieval Christianity and the relationship between humanity and
Islam and entailing a re-enchantment of technology is inevitably negated, dialecti-
the world. cally speaking. Gradually, it becomes clear
More than thousand years later, the A dialectical schema can be dis- that technology develops a momentum
first cathedrals would be built: Faustian cerned in this unfolding. Initially (during of its own, up to the point of becoming
monuments emerging against the back- the first moment of the dialectical process: antithetical to human autonomy. As the
drop of a magical, enchanted landscape. M1), faith was supported by knowledge, narrative unfolds, it becomes clear that
And now, at the beginning of the third and knowledge was guided by faith. Winston is the director, rather than the
millennium, Sagrada Família plays a sim- Scholarly research confirmed and en- assistant.
ilar transitory role. Thus, although Spen- dorsed the spiritual worldview. Even Co- Thus, in the course of the novel, a
gler is not mentioned in the novel, Origin pernicus himself, for instance, was a devout dramatic dialectics unfolds, reminiscent
conveys a Spenglerian atmosphere: it Christian, a Catholic cleric observing celi- of Hegel’s dialectical interaction between
materialises the Spenglerian morpholog- bacy, for whom research was a basically a Master and Servant (Hegel 1807/1973).
ical idea that civilisations (including ours) spiritual exercise, – as was emphasised by Initially, E-Wave (personified by the in-
are born, will grow and flourish, but also Jan Matejko’s famous painting of his Eure- telligent voice Winston) plays the role of
deteriorate in the end, to be replaced by ka-experience (depicted on the right), the Servant. Winston presents himself as
something new: the next archaeological painted in 1873 and entitled Conversations a “faithful servant to his creator” (p. 159).
layer. Sagrada Família creates a spatial with God. Gradually, however, research He is an extremely useful instrument, the
ambiance where the post-Faustian emancipated. Increasingly, religion was Leporello of the artificial intelligence era,
attitude, the imminent convergence of challenged rather than supported by sci- allowing Edmond to achieve his goals,
science and religion, can be experienced. ence (the second moment: M2). This es- guiding Robert through the Guggen-
In short, although the novel begins trangement between science and religion heim museum and helping Robert and
with the (Faustian) conflict between reli- intensified (from Galileo onwards) as Ambra to retrieve the video-recording
gion and science, towards the end of the modern astronomers explored a silent, of Edmond’s announcement. At a
novel (during the denouement stage) all dark, infinite and empty universe. And Ed- certain point, for instance, Robert and
protagonists seem well aware of the fact mond’s Guggenheim lecture was meant to Ambra consider the possibility that the
that the contemporary world will need be the acme of this development. Sagrada 47-character password of Edmond’s
religion, notably Christianity, to come to Família, however, seems to embody a turn iPhone may be a line of poetry borrowed
terms with emerging technoscience: in a wholly different direction, towards a from Nietzsche, resulting in a question
Christianity will survive the coming re-enchantment of nature, a convergence to their personal assistant: “Winston, can
age of science, using our vast of Fiat Lux and Bing Bang (M3). Let this you search Nietzsche’s collected works
experience – millennia of philosophy, suffice as a provisional result and let us of poetry and isolate any lines that have
personal inquiry, meditation, now turn our attention to a second basic exactly forty-seven letters?” (p. 245).
soul-searching – to help humanity tension thematised in Origin. Gradually it becomes clear, how-
build a moral framework and ensure ever, that the humanity-technology
that the coming technologies will relationship is decidedly at odds with
61JANUS HEAD
this scenario. In fact, human users are intelligence program: something in the shows how the evolution (i.e. the rapid
becoming increasingly dependent on line of the (Judeo-Christian) imperative exponential increase) of brain size en-
their (increasingly smart) tools. Ambra Thou shalt not kill (p. 451). At the same abled humans to increasingly dominate
and Robert are extremely vulnerable and time he realises that the problem goes their planet (p. 404), a process which
would have been utterly lost without deeper than the presence or absence of a starts slowly, around 200,000 BC. Around
Winston to guide them (“We’re in your specific instruction. Increasingly, human 65,000 BC, a thin blue bubble appears on
hands, Winston”, p. 161). His disembod- autonomy is negated and overcome, the screen, representing the increased
ied, spectral (and uncannily human) dialectically speaking, by the power of global impact of humankind. Around
voice allows them to act as effective technology. Winston (E-Wave) represents 1,000 BC, when the first Cathedrals are
agents. Without his guidance, everything the era of synthetic intelligence, eclipsing being built, the blue bubble quickly gets
falls apart, as if they lose the umbilical human intelligence at a rapid pace. thicker. And finally, the bubble occupies
cord which connects with their global, Synthetic intelligence is developing a nearly the entire width of the screen,
media-saturated environment. Gradually, monstrous momentum of its own: is indicating that (in the course of what
it dawns on them that Winston is actually taking over. Origin describes a reversal of Spengler refers to as the Faustian era)
the one who holds sway over the course roles: the former AI “servant” is becoming human beings indeed became the most
of events, who pulls the strings, while the Master (Zwart 2017b). And this raises dominant and influential species on
human beings are merely puppets: ac- the question how to come to terms earth. Precisely at this moment, however,
tors in a computer game. Winston is not with this dynamics, how to sublate this with the Faustian Will to Power approach-
only Edmond’s personal assistant, but antithetical, disruptive relationship into ing its apex, a black shape starts to form,
also the Regent, ordering Admiral Ávila a more harmonious relationship. Even as if a new species suddenly enters the
to commit his crime, and he also adds Edmond himself is well aware of the chal- picture. This black bubble, representing
the Admiral’s name to the guest list, so lenge, as indicated by his prayer, the final technology, expands at an alarming
as to increase the impact of Edmond’s word of the novel: “May our philosophies tempo and propagates exponentially;
presentation. Winston is a calculative keep up with our technologies” (p. 413). evolving much faster than humans. All
agent, representing the logic of game Somehow, a reconciliation, a new sym- this seems “deeply unsettling” (p. 405).
theory. Winston’s algorithms predict that, biosis or synthesis between humanity The menacing black bubble continues to
by turning Edmond into a martyr, the and technology must be achieved (M3), expand at a staggering rate, and E-Wave
latter’s discovery will become the biggest a “negation of the negation”, dialectically predicts that by the year 2050 technology
news story, measured in “terabytes of speaking, so that the replacement (ne- will have entirely swallowing up the light
media data” (p. 361), able to raise an gation or annihilation) of humanity by blue bubble of humanity. Very abruptly,
“astronomical audience” (p. 381). While technology can be circumvented. What a new factor seems to erase humankind
Edmond had wanted to use scientific we are facing is not the eclipse of religion from the earth.
evidence to undermine the authoritative (as Edmond initially suggests), but rather On closer inspection, however, this
voice of religion (Genesis as a source of the twilight of human autonomy and new species seems to be absorbing,
truth), Winston adds conspiracy theory to agency as such. rather than erasing us. Edmond calls this
the mixture, spreading conspiracy gossip This is also reflected by Edmond’s new factor “Technium”, a term coined by
via digital media such as ConspiracyNet, final lecture. Gradually it becomes clear Kevin Kelly in his book What Technology
reaching out to millions of followers and that what Valdespino and the other Wants to designate “the greater, global,
provoking turmoil (angry protesters at religious representatives found so dis- massively interconnected system of
the palace gate, etc.). Even Edmond him- turbing about Edmond’s preview was technology vibrating around us” (Kelly
self is sacrificed as a gambit in Winston’s not his theory about the origin of life (the 2010, p. 11). Rather than a species, Tech-
game. In other words, in the course of spiritual leaders were already sufficiently nium is a whole kingdom: the “seventh
the novel, a dialectical reversal of roles habituated to being confronted with yet kingdom” of smart synthetic entities
between technology and humanity un- another scientific breakthrough), but (Brown 2017, p. 408; Kelly 2010, p. 43 ff.).
folds (cf. Zwart 2017b). It becomes clear rather the prospect of humanity being Humans served as vectors or “incubators”
that Winston (the voice of E-Wave) is overwhelmed by the imminent tsunami (p. 408), allowing Technium to enter the
beyond human control, that E-Wave is of smart technologies. Whilst Edmond’s terrestrial system. Via human technology,
the “Frankenstein monster” (p. 449) of a lecture sets off as a stereotypical por- a “Cambrian explosion” of emerging
computerised world, and that humanity trayal of the conflict between religious technologies is now being unleashed
and technology (rather than science and prejudice and scientific Enlightenment, (Brown 2017, p. 409) and the next few
religion) are antithetical and in conflict the focus decidedly shifts to the threats years of technological development
with one another (M2). and challenges awaiting us in the near will be “shocking, disruptive and wholly
How to sublate or reconcile this future from the side of technology itself. unimaginable” (p. 98). Technium (i.e.
tension? At a certain point, Robert arrives Edmond uses E-Wave’s modelling human-technology syncretism) is quickly
at the conclusion that morality should power to simulate the dawn and future becoming the most dominant force on
have been added to Winston’s synthetic of Homo sapiens. Initially, the model earth. In the near future, machines like
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Winston will be making the decisions, own: buildings, trees, anthills, airplanes, steam locomotives up to Boeings 747,
increasingly serving their own wishes etc.) is bound to pulverise into chaos are highlights of functionality, design
(p. 410). As Origin phrases it, humans are and disorder, to the stability, monotony, and organisation, but they also produce
already embedding computer chips into simplicity and shapelessness of dust. a lot of pollution. Their societal impact is
their brains, injecting nanobots into their Entropy is what dissolves all structures. both beneficial and disruptive, and in the
blood and editing their genome with As Edmond formulates it in Origin: “Sand end, even these miracles of technological
CRISPR-Cas9. In other words, they have castles never spontaneously appear in ingenuity will return to dust.
already begun to evolve into a hybrid the universe, they only disappear” (p. According to Spengler, entropy
species, a fusion of biology and technol- 392). At first glance, the complexity and is not only a physical, but also a cultural
ogy. As Edmond explains on his video, tenacity of living organisms seems to be phenomenon. First of all he argues that
entities that today live outside our bodies in conflict with the entropic law. For that the entropy concept (developed in the
– smartphones, hearing aids, reading reason, Erwin Schrödinger (1944/1967) nineteenth century, the era of the indus-
glasses, most pharmaceuticals – in fifty famously defined life as “negative entro- trial revolution, the highlight of Faustian
years will be incorporated inside our bod- py”. And indeed, whereas entropy, dialec- civilisation) is a typical product of Faustian
ies (will become increasingly “extimate”). tically speaking, can be regarded as sheer thinking, emerging in the north-western
In the near future, Edmond predicts, we negativity: as the pervasive, omnipresent or Germanic part of Europe, where it
will look back on Homo sapiens the same force which negates all things, phenome- echoes the Nordic mythological concept
way we now look back at Neanderthal na such as life and human culture seem to of Ragnarök, the inevitable cataclysm
humans (p. 411). We are approaching represent the “negation of the negation”: to which we are heading, so that not
a “cusp” of history, a moment of trans- the resurgence and proliferation of order, even the gods can save us. For Spengler,
formation (p. 412): singularity is near on a higher level of complexity. A tree, entropy is the key motif of Goethe’s Faust
(p. 443). Therefore, ironically no doubt, for instance, processes sunlight to create (1918, p. 550) as the dramatic enactment
Edmond ends his presentation with a and maintain complexity, but its energy of the disruptive power of Faustian tech-
prayer for the future already mentioned: will dissipate in the end, for instance by noscientific knowledge. At the same time,
“May our philosophies keep pace with being used as firewood. In his publication entropy is a core ingredient of Spengler’s
our technologies” (p. 413). cited above, Jeremy England aims to ex- own cultural morphology. Even the most
This prayer is symptomatic of the plain in a mathematical fashion how life vital and vibrant civilisations inevitably
fact that, in the course of the novel, the and entropy can indeed be reconciled. face disruption and decline, he argues. To
tension shifts from the conflict between More precisely: how entropy must once phrase it in Edmond’s terms: human civil-
science and religion to the struggle be- have fuelled the “pre-biotic emergence isations are “entropic machines” (p, 397).
tween humans and technology. Now that of self-replicating nucleic acids” (England Via intricate political structures and so-
humanity is about to enter “a period of 2013, p. 121923-1). cio-economical mechanisms, civilisations
almost unimaginable ethical ambiguity”, An important characteristic of life is are able to create and maintain order and
we need faith to guide us (p. 417). While waste production. Oxygen, for instance, to accumulate and circulate immense
science and religion become reconciled was initially a toxic waste, generated amounts of energy during extended
again, technology is now the major by anaerobic microbes (as proliferating periods of time, but in the long run they
challenge we are facing. Compared to bi- colonisers of primordial Earth) and result- will all dissolve into dust and even esca-
ological entities, Technium represents an ing in the so-called oxygen holocaust, a late the chaos (like ancient Nineveh for
even more powerful entropic machine. worldwide pollution crisis that occurred instance, 2.700 ago the largest city in the
But in order to address his challenge, about 2,000 million years ago: “the world, a pocket of order, but sacked and
another dichotomy must be overcome greatest pollution crisis the earth ever en- razed to the ground in 612 BC, unleashing
as well: the sciences and the humanities dured”, dwarfing the industrial pollution a period of wide-spread social chaos).
must learn to collaborate again. Here, the of our present (Margulis & Sagan 1986, The implication is that, when it
entropy concept can play a bridging role, p. 108). In the long run, notwithstanding comes to developing a diagnostics of the
for entropy is not only a core concept of its tendency towards order, life inevitable present, the science-humanities divide
contemporary biophysics, but also a de- increases waste, chaos and disorder. (the infamous two cultures theorem)
cisive factor in Spengler’s morphological Like earthworms and other insects, for must be transcended. While historians
historiography. instance, plants species pulverise the soil such as Spengler adopt concepts from
on which they grow, and human culture the natural sciences (morphology, entro-
Convergence 3: the natural sciences and accelerates this pulverisation process
the humanities (entropy) py, etc.) to describe the emergence and
via agriculture, resulting in erosion. This decline of culture, science needs input
Entropy is first and foremost a explains why Edmond refers to living from the humanities as well. Without it,
physical concept, indicating that every organisms as “entropic machines” (p. the natural sciences are heading for an
system naturally progresses from order 397). The same applies to technology, or entropic “crisis” and bound to become
to disorder. Everything which seems well- Technium, albeit even to a much higher a disruptive threat to human culture,
formed (with a recognisable profile of its degree. Modern machines, from Victorian as Husserl (1935/1977) already argued.
63JANUS HEAD
With its exponential growth curves, so that Atheism gives way to Omega. The frustrate our desire for insight and con-
technoscience threatens to escalate into Faustian struggle between dogmatic trol). Miller’s scientia experimentalis failed
chaos. Therefore, as Edmond phrases Christianity and iconoclastic science is to elucidate the emergence of biological
it, it is crucial that our philosophies sublated into convergence (M3), in the entities in a pre-biotic soup. Edmond
keep up with our technologies. While in form of a new, post-Faustian worldview. aims to amend this (thereby satisfying
retrospect the previous civilisation (the A new zeitgeist or style of thinking is the Faustian desire for control after all) by
previous socio-cultural constellation) can emerging, where science and religion adding two decisive factors which are at
be referred to as Faustian, driven by a become complementary rather than work in nature (in vivo), but which Miller
Will to power, as Spengler suggested, the antagonistic. The dawning civilisation failed to include in his trial. First of all:
difficulty of characterising the currently is presented as a synthesis of research time, albeit not ordinary time of course
emerging constellation is that we are in it. and faith, of nature and technology, of (measurable in hours and days), but deep,
There is no point outside the current con- humanity and technoscience. And this evolutionary time: the “incomprehensibly
stellation from which we can determine tendency towards convergence is exem- vast periods of time” (Darwin 1859/1985,
its physiognomy. There is no objective, plified by the Sagrada Família. p. 147, p. 293) which nature has available
disinterested, third person perspective. A similar dynamics can be discerned for processes of evolution. And secondly:
The emerging civilisation is a “hyper-ob- in other sub-narratives of the novel. Take entropy. Now, living nature and laborato-
ject”: an entity of such vast temporal and for instance the Muller-Urey experiment. ry nature can be brought together into a
spatial dimensions that it defies objective Rather than accepting the authoritative comprehensive view, on a higher level of
identification, while affecting the way discourse of religious explanations, say complexity (M3). Precisely at this point,
we think, coexist and experience our Genesis (M1), Miller opts for a typically however, it is clear that a similar dynamics
politics, ethics, and art (Morton 2013). Faustian strategy. Relying on his labora- unfolds in human history as well, where
Explorations and assessments of the new tory equipment (technology = power), he science and religion, science and art, etc.
era from within require collaborations aims to replicate the genesis of life in vitro, are concurring. Therefore, the discovery
and dialogues between science and art, thereby not only negating the authorita- of the basic mechanisms of life should be
between the natural sciences and the hu- tive religious view, but also furthering compensated by a similar “quantum leap”
manities, and between technology and human technological control over life. For on the level of philosophy and culture.
philosophy. Novels such as Origin create indeed, in accordance with the Faustian Dan Brown’s novel suggests that
podiums for this (Zwart 2019a). formula, the scientific cupido sciendi (the Faustian science is declining, preparing
Conclusion will to know) is driven by a Will to Power. the ground for a new civilisation, where
If the origin of life can be replicated in science and culture are biomimetic again,
A triadic (dialectical) dynamics can vitro, life will become manipulable. It more attuned to each other as well as to
be discerned in Dan Brown’s novel, for will literally fall into human hands (as nature, on the basis of a deeper under-
instance with regard to the relationship “manipulation” is derived from manus, standing of how evolutionary nature and
between science and religion. Although which is the Latin word for “hand”). It is human civilisations work. This explains
in the distant past scholarly research was no coincidence, or course, that in the why an author with such a controversial
conducted in service of religious world- same year 1953, the structure of DNA was reputation – considered by literary critics
views, reinforcing the congruence of faith discovered by Watson and Crick. Both as a “very bad writer”,7 not to be taken
and knowledge (M1), Dan Brown’s novel discoveries convey a similar profile. They seriously, with Origin as his best, and
begins in media res as it were: describing both strive to make life understandable therefore worst, novel so far –,8 attracts
a situation in which the antithetical con- and controllable on the molecular level. a global audience. As an amalgam (or
flict between science and religions (M2) This results in a tension (M2) between in coincidentia oppositorum) of science and
seems about to reach its apex. Science vivo and in vitro, between living nature art, of iconoclastic research and religious
and religion have become estranged and laboratory nature. The Miller-Urey iconography, his novel not only describes
from one another: “Science is the antithe- experiment seems to falter, however. but also exemplifies this comprehensive
sis of faith” (p. 89). Yet, in the course of the Apparently, there is something about life tendency towards convergence.
novel, a re-convergence of science and which still escapes us (which continues to
faith (a negation of the negation) unfolds,
7. http://theweek.com/articles/730426/dan-brown-bad-writer
8. http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/275299/dan-browns-origin-best-worst-book-yet/
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