My Take on Truth, Science, and Spirituality

[BeboNow]

We think what we think is truth. It’s what we know and all we know. We don’t know what we don’t know beyond it so we take it as complete truth. It’s the infrastructure supporting our actions and beliefs. Our brains live our thinking by acting on it and by believing its conclusions. We trust our head truth.

But our heads are no more than picture galleries, and while we think the paintings on the walls show us reality, they’re incomplete and all bear the ridges of our own brushstrokes. How can we know what is outside the gallery? How can we know Truth?

Our heads reach outside the gallery by groping (in the original sense of the word). Our five senses are the hands. The problem is that our hands take in only what they touch so what they take in is markedly incomplete. Then the image of what’s taken in is filtered through our brains which add their own distortions. Each image is Photoshopped to fit the inclinations of our personal history, to avoid whatever is inside that’s too painful to face, and to serve our subconscious needs. Only then is the painting hung. The picture-gallery head truth is not an infallible representation of Truth.

So with head truth’s imperfections, we need to learn what we can from body truth. Head truth comes from the process of (not always so) logical reasoning. Body truth comes from the gut, bypassing the head’s analysis. Examples of body truth are intuition, impulsiveness, and creativity. But the breakdown is that bringing a body truth to consciousness puts it through the same brain distortions that filter head truths, and the filters can alter and even create their own convictions. Body truth is even less infallible than head truth.

Science doesn’t know what Truth is either. Science doesn’t even try to know Truth. Science builds models that represent truth. Science can't say what reality is. All it can know is how effective its models are in predicting physical behavior. Models of matter have advanced from thinking of it as mixtures of earth, water, air, and fire in various proportions to believing matter is made up of quarks. But it still can’t answer, and will never be able to answer the fundamental question, “What is a quark, really?”

The brain functions the same way science does. The universe doesn't exist inside our heads, so neither can reality. A brain can only represent reality through beliefs that come from our experience. These beliefs are picture-gallery models of reality, not reality itself. Neither science nor the human brain will ever know reality or truth. Neither will ever be able to solve the ultimate mystery of, “What is it, really?”

Science has models for why people believe in supernatural phenomena, but as far as I know, there are no scientific models to explain the supernatural phenomena themselves. Asking, “What is it, really?” about the supernatural hasn’t even reached the earth, water, air, fire stage. But though no one has found a way to validate supernatural phenomena, that doesn’t mean a way won’t be found. The phenomena may just be particularly elusive, like the Higgs boson and gravity waves proved to be.

Because of this, it’s impossible to prove any one person’s belief is more valid than anyone else’s. Being dogmatic is inappropriate under these circumstances and doesn’t serve. Remaining flexible in our own opinions and tolerant of others’ does serve. It helps find a deeper understanding of what we do believe. Even if the supernatural realm is no more than a human construct, there is something to be gained from exploring it. The payoff is insight into the human, and personal, condition.

The payoff of science is knowledge. The payoff of spirituality is wisdom. Having the experiences and asking the questions without expecting answers can be an effective path to wisdom. It may be that by its very nature, the supernatural can’t be explored scientifically. Maybe it’s meant to remain a mystery. But exploring the mystery can still bring wisdom.

I’ve had several paranormal experiences, the basis for three of which could be labeled precognition, astrology, and reincarnation. While I can’t be sure these labels provide an accurate explanation, I do believe there is something behind the curtain that cast the shadows I saw. I believe all truth does come down to physics. It’s just that my physics textbook is bigger than the ones in the universities, and some of the pages have yet to be written.


This is an overview of two articles I’ve written. I’m still a newbie so I can’t publish them here on SF yet. I also have some fundamental questions about publishing SF Articles. More mysteries, the contemplation of which may bring me wisdom as well. ;-)
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