Did this picture surprise you? It surprised me. Only…why? If you were to dissect a unicorn, what would you expect to see inside?
I so often see people trashing religion, spirituality and myth as nonsense. Usually the response they get from the opposite side of the fence is a kind of smiling, even sad, shake of the head and the words “you just don’t get it.” Having lived on both sides of this conversation, this former atheist can attest to the truth of this. I see here two separate but equal worldviews, logical mind and mythical mind. (Very roughly equivalent to popular left brain/right brain theories. Apologies to my cringing neuroscientist friends.) Usually one dominates; rarely do they function seamlessly together.
Attempts to bridge the two get ugly. On one hand, you have mythical mind judging its experience by the standards of science and logic. The desire of New Agers to be taken seriously by the scientific community, often accompanied by elaborate and painful discussions of quantum physics, is based on the assumption that for their experience to be true, it must be logical. They misunderstand the role and function of science. The fact of the matter is that science is slow. It is supposed to be. It is careful and precise, trusting that over time truth will emerge. At any given point in time, right now even, we think we understand a lot of things. However, many of these will be reinterpreted later, even proven wrong. The data accumulates, we interpret, we have working theories, and these get trickled down into the common culture. Right now the New Agers and religious folk are combating an outmoded mechanical view of the universe. And rightfully so…we know this is out of date. The problem is, we don’t yet know how. On a tangible day to day level, we do not understand the full implications of quantum physics. We won’t, science won’t, for a very long time. Refusing to wait for the solid research results in misguided attempts to explain spiritual experience with abused scientific lingo…also known as pseudoscience.
Why try to hijack and misuse scientific terms to explain things that are simply not (yet) researched, not proven, not scientific at all? Because for many New Agers, science is still their god. Deep down, they still feel that only science and logical thinking can grant validity. If they truly valued mythical mind and spiritual experience, they would judge it by its own standards instead of making it into something it is not. Please, leave the discussions of quantum physics to physicists. There’s no need to devalue your experience just because they haven’t finished their research yet.
Don’t assume because the unicorn isn’t made of flesh and blood that it does not exist. And don’t get huffy when researchers point out that there is no research to support the existence of unicorn intestines.
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I will continue this discussion in future posts. I think it is very important to understand the erroneous thinking that can result from unskillful attempts to synthesize these two worldviews. Next I will address the hidden misuse of mythical thinking by atheists. Fun!
In the meantime, be sure to read the interesting conversation taking place in the comments.
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Mysterious Artemis 
My father always says that the humanities have science envy. The fake-quantum-physics gabblers you’re talking about are the same people who say absurd things like “Goedel’s incompleteness theorem proves the existence of the soul!”
It’s pointless to try to use a tool for something it was specifically not designed for — like trying to use a hacksaw to change a tire. Nonrational experiences are simply outside the area of application of science, which is concerned only with repeatable observable events.
Also, an interesting process is the myth-making itself. Why the need to give a “comprehensive” and unified view of the universe? Both sides are guilty of hubris on this count. Could the universe even be encapsulated in something as paltry as a “view” or “philosophy”?
Yeah, I can agree with this post. I think you pointed out the main problem: you can’t elevate speculation (which is what spirituality is) to a working theory in a science sense without doing the work. “Work,” in this case, means forming a hypothesis, designing an experiment to test that hypothesis, and then determining whether or not the results of the experiment agree with that hypothesis. Basically, to be viewed as science, you must follow the scientific method, and it’s very difficult if not impossible to follow this method to answer questions of spirituality. As you say, if it works for you, great, but there’s no need to try and convince others by promising what you can’t deliver (evidence).
I suppose that’s the fun thing about the myth thinking/sensing side of the brain vs the logical scientific side. Sensations can be similar, but not necessarily the same for the individual when they happen at different points in time. Let alone the fact that not everyone experiences the same thing.
Maybe it’s because you have the other sensations going on around at the same time. That spring breeze that brings the scent of blooming flowers. It may remind you of other springs and other times/places. But that same breeze may not be the same temperature or the same speed as the one that made the original memory, so that you are also marking another point in time that you may reference in the future.
Science likes to have things be reproducible to prove that they are true. If you take A and you take B and you stir them together (With a careful not about how. Can’t shake them, that might be different every time you shake) you should get C.
But with ideas and senses, you can’t take A and B and have them turn out C every time, even when you try to treat them the same way. Life goes on and things change. Specifically even you change. You have more experience and make A (or B or both) richer than they were before. So even if C is kind of like the C you had before, it’s not the same one.
Now try getting other people to have it add up the same way for themselves, again leaving alone trying to match yours. You can’t. That’s why it’s fun to sit down with your friends, shoot the breeze (spring breeze?) and talk about what you think, what you feel and what you believe. Those changes that everyone has experienced will only help the rest of the group progress. And incidentally, give you yet more understanding and thought to change who you are and what you will perceive.
There is a truth in what has already been posted here. On some level mankind is afraid of what is perceived as irrational thought. It is as if to stir the ancient primitive pot that lies hidden deep in the psyche, would cause everything that seems logical and rational to unravel.
The more mankind has moved away from an symbiotic relationship with the natural world, the more desperate the need to clearly define all that he encounters. Storing it safely in tidy little boxes. Clean, logical, orderly, controlled.
The problem with this approach is that there is so much more to our world and our human experience than that which we have a clear and logical explanation for all of the time. This innate fear of the messy and unpredictable has left many woefully unprepared for encounters or events that fall outside of a familiar paradigm.
From a shamanic approach there is no judgement on what is possible in an individuals personal cosmos. Whatever hypothesis is formed is unique to the individual experience. As curious beings we are constantly forming our own ideas and judgements about what we encounter. It is the need to be right and to tell everyone else that we are right and they are wrong is where the train derails.
Science may or may not catch up to what is understood by shamans. Whether they do or not will not alter the understanding or the ability of those that for ages have worked in these paradigms. Not everyone is meant to have so profound a life. But for those that are seeking a shift, suspending judgement is the first step.
“The problem with this approach is that there is so much more to our world and our human experience than that which we have a clear and logical explanation for all of the time.”
Such as? We know the limits of knowledge, and it has only been science and logic that have shed light on this darkness.
“Science may or may not catch up to what is understood by shamans.”
And whether or not this knowledge was preached by shamans is, tellingly, irrelevant – did shamans teach us electricity? Vaccinations? Flight? Any knowledge whatsoever that can be verified?
And that’s my big objection to this whole ‘Oh, there’s more to life than what science can teach us’. Well, maybe so, but so what? Unless it’s actually been verified and corroborated by hard evidence, there’s no reason to believe in anything like ‘alternative’ medicine, spirits and angels, gods and devils. Shamans can tell you whatever they like, but it’s the scientists who give you good reason to listen to them.
@Dave:
I’m usually on the side of science, but it’s not “Science and nothing else.” If you want only hard knowledge that can be verified, then out goes your system of ethics. Morality can’t be tested in a lab and proven or disproved.
As for Shamans, they did provide a way of keeping their people together. Providing guidance and wisdom for those that sought it. Cultural bastion that helps a people find value in their lives and a reason to keep going in the face of adversity.
Science is important. It says when a medicine is actually beneficial, and when it isn’t. But that doesn’t mean it is the end-all.
@Dave: I’ve been thinking about your comment all afternoon. Indeed, why is the experience of the shaman important? The ‘so what’ of this boils down to healing, creativity and what works when you are trying to advance in these areas. Ask any rational scientist who has undergone a profound healing ritual if such work is irrelevant. It might not be ‘hard evidence’ that convinces him, but chances are it will be so personally significant as to be impossible to ignore.There is so much art to facilitating healing, and in our Western model, much of that area is unexplored and labeled ‘placebo effect.’ The skill and training of the shaman (and other healers–counselors, artists and journalists even who heal societies) are in the dedicated study and practice of sophisticated techniques that work with a person’s…’placebo potential’, let’s call it.
Ditto creativity…there are so many examples of scientific discovery coming through moments of inspiration, imagination, or spiritual experience. I was just reading about how George Washington Carver felt his research was guided by the divine.
“When I touch that flower, I am touching infinity. It existed long before there were human beings on this earth and will continue to exist for millions of years to come. Through the flower, I talk to the infinite, which is only a silent force. This is not a physical contact. It is not the earthquake, wind, or fire. It is in the invisible world. It is that still small voice that calls up the fairies.”
From what I understand, good science is figuring out the right questions to ask. Working skillfully with the mythic mind is a good way to help yourself listen to the whispers of delicate new ideas.
Thanks for commenting! I’m loving this discussion…we’ve heard from writers, neuroscientists, spiritual elders, zen buddhists…very cool.
Result of dissecting unicorns: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8486/8232569115_2c286bbb77.jpg
Both science and spirituality are true even if you don’t believe in it … wonderful how that works. Despite being vegan … if someone did dissect a unicorn and we made a fest of unicorn meat, I’d eat it 🙂