Research

I just finished Spook by Mary Roach. A humorous romp through the evidence for life after death, she takes a wide and shallow look at what science has to say about the subject. Although the book appears shallow, her research may not have been, for the lack of detail in some areas could have been result of trimming for space and only choosing a representative sample of what she unearthed. But it does seem that, in several cases, she made broad generalizations from a very small number of examples. Despite that, it seemed a relatively balanced view of the subject, including, what I call, the "smirk" factor. Which sums up the reaction you usually see, in polite circles, when this kind of research comes up.

In her final chapter she says "I guess I believe that not everything we humans encounter in our lives can be neatly and convincingly tucked away inside the orderly cabinetry of science." and "I believe in the possibility of something more--rather than in any existing something more (reincarnation, say, or dead folks who communicate through mediums). It's not much, but it's more that I believed a year ago." I draw a certain amount of heart from the idea that someone, who isn't invested in a particular religious or scientific paradigm, can be persuaded to say, "Huh, there's something here we can't explain." And that opinion gets on the bestseller list.

It gives me hope that our society, and perhaps the world, can finally get that not only is there a long view, but we all are going to participate in it. That we are the children that we are preserving the world for. That every person will have to live, for generation after generation, with the choices they make, or allow to be made, today. 

This is part the research I'm doing to get me a feel of what's actually going on, out there in the fringe, and what it looks like to the average bloke. I've been cruising the internet, but it can be difficult to get a cross section that way: Everything is pretty much given equal weight. You will find the nuttiest ideas right next to the stodgiest, but no real way to tell which is which. Maybe that "nutty" idea is actually some mainstream, though obscure, bit of scientific exploration, while the stodgy idea is some recycled bit of religious dogma, disowned by all the major religions. It's hard to tell without seeing what the mainstream's reading.

Next up: Mirage Men, by Mark Pilkington. So far it's been an interesting peek into the history of UFOs. It's good way to put some of the weird stuff that I have hear about, from time to time, into an overall context. More on that later.

What has this got to do with spirituality? Well, it's all part of our cultural mythology. My search is a combination of knowledge and insight. I could spend all my time meditating, but that's not me. I could work entirely from knowledge, which is my usual method, but this is an area "knowledge" and the written word is only partially useful. When I comb through pages and hours of writing and speaking, I find some parts that resonate with me. These parts are like poking at a hidden area of my subconscious that I didn't know was there and bringing it to light.

Most of what I read is of no use. It's either silly, paranoid, or comes across as total fantasy. Over time, I've come to the conclusion that most of it is useless (to me). But useful parts can be hard to tease out from the religo-babble, because information that I'm not ready for is only slightly different than the noise. Clearly, too many people out there have nothing original to say, and what they do say is too often elaborated or misinterpreted in various ways that hide the original intent. It takes a level of discernment to tease out what I need to know, and not be tempted by the stuff that seems logical but won't get me anywhere.