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Friday, June 8, 2018

Science vs. Faith & Psi

McMenamin's Hotel Oregon
McMenamins Hotel Oregon
I just returned from this year’s UFO Fest in McMinnville OR. I went with my daughter, who flew in for the Fest. I don’t get to see her much these days, so it was good to have several days together, to talk and work to connect more as equals and adults. She left this morning, and now it’s time to confront some truths. I’ve been happy to sit on the fence and not take a stand on whether or not the events I hear described did, in fact, happen. Perhaps it’s time to take a hard look at myself and get off the fence.

This year, the main topics were the Ariel school incident, and Skinwalker Ranch. Both are pretty well documented with many witness, and physical evidence in the case of Skinwalker. My current thoughts are summed up by this quote from Dr John Mack, Harvard psychiatrist, “If this is real, what does it mean?”

At the heart of this question is always the tension between faith and science. I don’t think there really is any conflict between the two, and, as far as I can tell, the majority of scientists and theologians throughout history seem to agree with me. The only problem seems to be a relatively small number of extremely vocal extremists on both sides, who believe that their views are the only correct ones, and that any deviance from their worldview will result in the downfall of civilization or the slippery slope to eternal damnation, depending you which side they happen to be on. Extremists are, at best, misguided, and in this case especially so, because in their vigorous defense of their respective positions, they great violence to the very ideas they claim to be protecting.

This is nothing new on the religious side of the debate. Fringe beliefs have been around for ever, and even mainstream religions have been used to justify everything from slavery to genocide. Christianity has splintered into a bewildering veriaty of sects with more philosophical, and nocturnal differences than you can shake a stick at. Some even within the same physical church! But, the one thing they all are supposed to agree on, that faith is “firm belief in something for which there is no proof,” is trashed by those that insist that they must have physical proof to believe. These are the bible literalists that say the the Bible is 100% literally true, and if you see anything that contradicts their interpretation of The Word, you are wrong. They behave like Groucho Marx when he said, “Who you gonna believe, me, or your own eyes?”

The “scientific” extremist are no better. If there is one thing that is absolutely critical to the success of science, it’s the principle that everything in science is provisional, that evidence trumps belief, every time. But, once you start saying that some ideas cannot be questioned and certain evidence must be ignored, science becomes dogma based on faith, and contrary ideas, taboo. (Banned TED Talk: The Science Delusion - Rupert Sheldrake at TEDx), where the free exchange of ideas and data is slaughtered by explicit threats to a persons' reputation and livelihood.

You know that something’s up when you hear the phrase “Extraordinary claim require extraordinary evidence,” widely attributed to Carl Sagan. Science extremists love to trot this one out whenever they are faced with evidence they can’t refute or deny. It’s simply an authoritative way of saying: No matter how good your evidence, it’s just not good enough. The problem here is that there is no objective measure for “extraordinary,” any claim the skeptic doesn’t like is “extraordinary,” and no evidence is “extraordinary” enough to support it. Wonderful “Get Out of Jail Free” card, isn’t it? Science extremists have a whole bevy of tricks they use to protect their positions, and every last one of them would be loudly called out and denounced, if used by the other side. It’s a sad state of affairs when the very tools of science are twisted and used to undermine the very foundations of science and the objective inquiry it depends on.

Extremists on both sides suffer from the same assumption, unquestioned by pretty much everyone. The assumption that This Is It. That We Are It. They we humans are the pinnacle of development, of evolution, of science, that there are no new fundamental discoveries to be made, no new theological insights to be gained. The our knowledge, philosophy, and worldview is the best there ever was, or will be. Because, if they are not, then we can expect that every argument put forward by either side would likely be rendered moot by new discoveries in science, philosophy or theology, as has happened many times in the past. The problem with extremism is that it paints you into a corner, and you have no way out when the world changes and your “firm foundation” turns to dust.

I seem to have wandered off-topic here, but maybe not. Where do I sit? I’m never going accept any of the mainstream religious views, because none of them are compatible with reality, as I know it. I know, I tried. Neither do I align with the foolishness of the Richard Dawkins of the world and their strict materialist thinking. There is clearly more going on here than can be accounted for by science as we know it. The evidence for Psi and consciousness out side of the brain is steadily piling up, despite vigorous opposition by powerful parties. But the, frankly crazy, stuff at the Skinwalker ranch, do I buy that?

What I an struggling with, is that I don’t yet have a worldview that all these things fit into. That isn’t a reason to reject it all, but it doesn’t make acceptance any easier. In that sense, I suppose it’s lucky that I haven’t had any dramatic experiences that would either require me to believe or question my own sanity, I have the luxury of taking my time. However, circumstances are pushing me to take a stance. I know where I’d like to stand, but I’m not really comfortable with standing there “on faith” until I figure something out. So, I’ll just have to get over it.

As always, I welcome your questions and comments.
Take care.

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