David Sérgio de Gouvêa:

“The intelligent principle
in any kingdom must first learn first before it is
able to produce” 
 
Our fellow Spiritist from the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, a lecturer of Electric Engineering at the Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, talks about the “Intelligent Principle”

	David Sérgio (photo) is a lecturer at the Engineering Faculty at the Federal University in the city of Juiz de Fora. He believes he has been a Spiritist from birth. David Sérgio has been researching the issue of the “Intelligent Principle”, taking it to conferences and debates across the country. And that is the main theme of this interview he gave us:
Does the intelligent principle really need to go through the mineral kingdom, as stated by Spiritism in its evolutionary proposal?

In question 585 of The Spirits’ Book, Allan Kardec explains that there is an apparent progression in the properties of the different kingdoms – mineral, vegetal and animal. In the mineral kingdom, we have mechanical force. In the vegetal kingdom, vitality is added to the mechanical force. In the animal kingdom, we keep the two previous forces and gain the intelligent principle. In the human kingdom, the “being” becomes a spirit, as it gains conscience of God and himself. In question 606, Kardec says the intelligent principle appears in the animal kingdom as a precursor “being” of the Spirit in the human kingdom. In question 540, we learn that everything evolves “from the atom to the archangel, who also began as atom.” We do not know how the “being” is created (Kardec’s Genesis, chapter XI, question 7), but we know that the intelligent principle comes from the universal intelligent element (The Spirits’ Book, question 79) and that we  are created simple and ignorant (question 115), with potential for future development. However, taking into account the previous comments, we will understand that the “being” created simple and ignorant must go through the various kingdoms, acquiring knowledge and aiming to reach the angelic state. 

What is your personal view on this issue? 

The learning process can be identified in the vegetal and animal kingdom, but the development of organic life is not part of the mineral kingdom. The codification of Spiritism is not explicit about the intelligent principle in the mineral kingdom, but I tried to formulate a hypothesis based on other Spiritist authors and subsidiary works. I believe that the intelligent principle is linked to organic (or cellular) life first in the vegetal kingdom. My theoretical hypothesis is that the learning process – gathering information – must come before we have the capacity of carrying out a particular task. In other words, the intelligent principle in any kingdom must first learn first before it is able to produce. 

How much does Biology know about this at the present stage? 

We know that any cell, even the most primitive one, needs some kind of organisation to function – to maintain its molecular structures, such as the cellular membrane, and to carry out functional tasks, such as feeding. We know that the cell, by its molecular structure, must “know” how to keep the various organic molecules in their positions in the cellular membrane in order to keep the membrane’s integrity. That is required so it can carry out the feeding process, by barring the entrance of toxins, allowing the exit of processed elements and keeping vital elements inside the cell. How could the intelligent principle have acquired the necessary information for organic life it this “being” is still in the mineral kingdom and has not acquired any kind of knowledge? It could have been acquired previously, in experiences where it is essential to keep the molecular structure. That could have happened in the mineral kingdom, where mechanical force is a reality. Therefore, to answer the question “Where could have the intelligent principle gathered the information about molecular structure?” we could say: “in a kingdom where the main function is mechanical force, or the mineral kingdom.” 

Is that clear in Allan Kardec’s Codification of Spiritism? 

There is no ostensive mention of the Spirit’s transit through the mineral kingdom, except for question 540 of The Spirits’ Book, where this question is mentioned. But complementary Spiritist books by Emmanuel and André Luiz, as well as Léon Denis and Jorge Andrea, talk about it. 

If the Spirit rests in the mineral kingdom, how does it eventually wake up? 

In my view, the “being” must first learn, or acquire information, before being able to produce. The intelligent principle must have acquired the information it needs to control the molecular structure of the cells in a previous stage – the mineral kingdom – before reaching the vegetal kingdom.  

When do you believe humanity will have a deeper understanding of this issue? 

There is a comment in Kardec’s Genesis, chapter XI, question 7 about “how human beings are created.” But in the answer, the Spiritual Benefactors say that such revelation is out of our reach. It is useless or harmful. On the other hand, our spiritual progress is constant and we are going to reach, eventually, the stage of pure Spirits. And then we will certainly know the answers to such questions. 

How do your pears in the academia view the evolutionary proposal put forward by Spiritism? 

There is some Spiritist research work being carried out taking a scientific approach but I do not believe the academia, universities or lectures, are interested in matters linked to Spiritism.