Supernatural vs. Logical16:44 Nov 23 2006
Times Read: 905
There was an interesting thread on the main forum about supernatural vs. logical. As the thread will likely scroll - I thought I'd preseve my thoughts here.
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Some people have made some awesome points here... and I'm sure I'll reiterate a few of them as I ramble along... so I beg your forebearance in advance.
There’s an old axiom in sci-fi and other channels – “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. There are a few others out there as well – “people fear that which they don’t understand”. Throw in “people need to believe in something bigger than themselves”. What do these seemingly random thoughts have in common? They seem to go to the heart of why people want to look for supernatural causes for events rather than rational ones in many cases.
I honestly believe that if I said “our understanding of the fundamentals of the universe has advanced greatly over the past 100 years” that I’d get no argument. However, I’d immediately counter with – “who does the pronoun ‘our’ refer to in this statement?” If you’re talking top scientists at top universities, and the individuals who study under them, then absolutely it has. If you’re talking about the body of published work accessible to everyone, again, I’d agree. If you are talking about the average person on the street – I’d be forced to say no in many cases.
Modern America (and in some cases the rest of the world) is replete with scientific ignorance, and it’s not confined to one part of the political or religious spectrum. The Fundamentalist Christians deny evolution on theological grounds. Many in less mainstream organized religions do the same, but it’s frequently other areas of science they are either ignorant of or tend to question. A number of the people who rail against science do so from a position of ignorance. For whatever reason they don’t know, don’t understand, or can’t grasp the concepts – so they must not be true. Barring a scientific explanation, the default becomes supernatural.
Fear is also a factor – because science has advanced so far, the average layman simply CAN’T grasp the finer points of physics, evolutionary biology, advanced chemistry, etc. without years of additional study. Quite frankly the average person may never be able to study enough to understand advance calculus, vector calculus, or linear algebra – so much of science remains a black box. In the minds of many, it’s not too far a leap from a black box to a black art. Many people don’t understand science – therefore they fear it. It becomes an “evil” that runs contrary to their “good”.
People also need to feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves. Humans are perhaps uniquely aware of their own mortality. We therefore are also perhaps unique in our ability to create our own sense of purpose in this world. We have careers, we raise families, we have goals, and many of us have a belief in some form of afterlife and/or some higher power. None of these belief systems can, at this point, be explained, proven, or disproven rationally so there is already a “supernatural” component to many people’s world view to begin with.
Therefore you simply combine the three. If one encounters a phenomenon that is not understood, or if the actual RATIONAL explanation seems even more fantastical because one lacks the background to understand it, or if the explanation runs counter to one’s cherished beliefs, there is a tendency to return to the “default” explanation. That default for many people is supernatural.
COMMENTS
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xxEmaeraldxx
22:48 Oct 22 2008
Looks like you found a rare occurence in the forum...maybe this Sci-Fi thing will work out after all and increase the quality of threads! :)