How Things Work: A Brief History of Reality
BOOK II: The Power of Three (Science & Religion) – Consideration #75. "The Story of God: Understanding the Spiritual Paradigm" (Part 1)
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Tuesday, March 21, 2023
“Western civilization is indebted to the Judeo-Christian tradition for its notions of human dignity and human rights, its innovation in science and medicine, its habits of humanitarian charity and universal education, and its rich contribution to the arts. Though once commonplace, this claim has become increasingly controversial, challenged by the revisionists of late modernity as well as those who suffer from historical amnesia... Even the notorious atheist Christopher Hitchens agrees that Western culture makes little sense without attending to the contribution of biblical religion: ‘You are not educated,’ he maintains, ‘if you don’t know the Bible...’”
– Kairos Journal (2008)
PREFACE
Welcome Everybody!
The essential distinction between science and religion is not logic or rationalism; it is objectivity and empiricism. The self-evident truth of mathematics can be learned by anyone and is demonstrable to everyone; mathematics is a kind of self-evident rationalism that can be manifested into the objective physical world. Geometry, for example, is rational and logical; however, the bridges, dams, and skyscrapers generated from that rational abstract logic are empirical and objective. We encounter the “truth,” or “proof,” of geometry everyday as part of our normal experience. Therefore, the appropriate response to a hypothetical mathematical suggestion is “prove it!” However, this would be an inappropriate response to a hypothetical theological question.
“God, traditionally represents the essence behind our ability to rationally understand the universe.”
God, like the a-priori truth, or knowledge, related to rational thought such as geometry, is not objective or empirical; God, traditionally represents the essence behind our ability to rationally understand the universe. In this sense, God can be “proven” through the Socratic method of theological dialectic as argued by Descartes, however there is no rational self-evident mathematic or objective empirical evidence or proof supporting the “rational nature” of “God’s” existence.
Essentially, there are only two ways to consider theological questions. One is through purely abstract rational considerations, as demonstrated through Biblical concepts such as the Logos, the Holy Trinity, and the nature and essence of Good and Evil. The second is through the completely “subjective” experience of “divine revelation.” This is where the problems related to God begin!
“…once science was separated from religion this ‘material’ connection was severed and God became a completely ‘rational’ consideration.”
At one point, God was directly connected to our physical experience, in that our physical experience was considered the direct expression, and therefore, the direct evidence of God. However, once science was separated from religion this “material” connection was severed and God became a completely “rational” consideration. The universe, or physical world, was now the domain of a new empirical discipline called science. No longer was the universe considered the “physical evidence” of a “rational Being.” The objective physical world of empiricism now belonged to science. The subjective rational world of “mind,” or “spirit,” now belonged to religion.
The once unified “mind-body” experience had become a “divided” experience with some people identifying with the “mind” or “spirit” aspect of reality and other people identifying with the “body” or “empirical” aspect of reality. People experiencing reality through an objective empirical lens often found the subjective nature of God a difficult concept to grasp or acknowledge. People experiencing reality through a rational subjective lens often found things such as a-priori mathematical understanding without God a difficult concept to grasp or acknowledge.
“…we tend to overlook and underestimate the influence of religion in our current experience of reality.”
In other words, some people naturally understand and are drawn to the objective aspects of reality, while other people naturally understand and are drawn to the subjective aspects of reality. However, “complete” reality is a combination of both. We tend to recognize and acknowledge the influence of science in our modern experience of reality. However, we tend to overlook and underestimate the influence of religion in our current experience of reality, which is ubiquitous, even if you are not religious.
In Part One of Book II, we considered the history of science and its influence on our modern interpretation of reality. In Part Two we consider the “story of God” as developed through Judeo-Christian theology and its influence in our modern interpretation of reality.
What is faith?
How does Judeo-Christian theology and Greco-Roman philosophy become the foundation of our modern world?
How are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all related to Abraham?
What are the direct connections between Moses and our form of Representative Democratic Government?
How are the teachings of Jesus directly infused into Western philosophical concepts such a Kant’s Categorical Imperative?
How does the “Greatest Story Ever Told” continue to affect believers and non-believers alike in today’s modern world?
These are a few of the questions we will attempt to untangle in the second consideration of Book II: Understanding Reality Through Religion.
CONSIDERATION #75 – The Story of God: Understanding the Spiritual Paradigm (Part 1)
The distinction between science and religion is faith. Unlike mathematics, faith is a subjective mystery revealed through immediate experience and understanding, as opposed to an objective opportunity to logically demonstrate abstract truth and facts. Unlike mathematics, you can’t teach faith. You can learn and practice a specific religion but that doesn’t necessarily guarantee you faith. Faith is personal, and sometimes illusive. However, it has also been one of the most powerful forces influencing Western culture.
Therefore, before entering a conversation regarding such an opaque and enigmatic concept, a more clear and objective analogy is required. Although there are numerous stories and parables in the Bible related to the nature of faith, it might be more constructive to start with something a little more secular that everyone can understand, such as the nature of perception and the hidden world of 3D stereograms.
“In 2015, the photograph of a dress appeared on Facebook. However, some people saw a white dress with gold lace, while others saw a blue dress with black lace.”
In 2015 and 2018 social videos demonstrating how differently people can see, or hear, the same thing dominated the attention of news, social media, and water cooler discussion. The “Yanny vs. Laurel” and the “White Dress vs. Blue Dress” debate was the social controversy of its day. In 2015, the photograph of a dress appeared on Facebook. However, some people saw a white dress with gold lace, while others saw a blue dress with black lace. Later, in 2018, a young high school girl posted an auditory illusion she noticed based on the word “Laurel,” originally recorded by Jay Aubrey Jones for www.vocabulary.com in 2007. After posting the audio clip, many people did not hear anything like the name “Laurel,” instead, clearly hearing the word “Yanny.”
“People who saw a blue dress, knew for certain it was a blue dress…”
The entire nation was arguing about whether a dress from the same photograph seen on Facebook by everybody was blue or white, and whether the same word they all heard on YouTube was Laurel or Yanny. And there was no room for debate! People who saw a blue dress, knew for certain it was a blue dress. Those who saw a white dress, couldn’t understand how anyone could see a blue dress. Those who heard the word “Yanny” found it impossible to even conceive of how someone else could hear the name “Laurel.” And it was obviously “Laurel” for those who heard “Laurel.” At least they all agreed that there was in fact a dress, and that they all heard a voice. Their disagreement was one of difference over perception or interpretation, as opposed to substance.
However, in the 1970’s a product known as a 3D Stereogram created a complete frenzy when people began arguing about whether the 3D image “hiding in the artwork” really existed at all.
“A stereogram is an optical illusion of stereoscopic depth created from a flat, two-dimensional image or images. At first sight a stereogram looks like an abstract image made of repeatable patterns. But if you look at it in a special way, the hidden 3D picture will magically appear. What you will see is a relief object or objects wrapped with the pattern you can see in the 2D picture. Some stereograms don’t have hidden images and consist of several objects placed in rows. When you perceive them, the objects will appear three dimensional, sometimes resting on different levels of depth.”
Marija Obradovic – April 3, 2014 (The World of Hidden 3D Stereograms)
The following 3D Stereogram is from the article, “The Hidden World of 3D Stereograms” by Marija Orbadovic. (Winter hunter by 3Dimaka) This image actually works if you want to try it. It won’t work on your phone however, you’ll have to have a larger image. Stare at it in a “defocused” way, by “looking through it while unfocused on the image itself,” and the edges, particularly the bottom edges, will move toward you and the rest of the image will move away from you; creating an “abstract” 3D cave-like image with trees.
“Stare at it in a ‘defocused’ way and the edges, particularly the bottom edges, will come toward you and the rest of the image will move away from you; creating an ‘abstract’ 3D cave-like image with trees.”
By next week some of you will think I am cool and some of you will think I am crazy and making this whole thing up! But I am not making it up, I assure you. There really is a seperate “hidden image” that is clearly perceivable in this seemingly meaningless abstract image. I’ve checked, it’s there.
Be careful though, the harder you try, the more difficult it is to see! You must look “without looking” and see “with no expectations” for the “illusion” to appear. There is a kind of “knack” to it. Some of you will see it right away. Some of you will have to attempt it multiple times after multiple adjustments before it appears. And some of you will never see it; no matter how hard you try. Good luck!
So, what does this have to do with faith? Excellent question. Let’s consider the stereogram analogy a little further…
POSTSCRIPT
It can be difficult to find an effective analogy for something as subjective as faith. This week’s newsletter sets up my favorite analogy “Faith and the 3D Dinosaur,” based on one of the most popular 3D Stereograms of the 1970’s. Before next week, try and “perceive” the hidden 3D image in the square; don’t worry about whether you can see it or not, that doesn’t matter. Either way, it will help you understand next week’s analogy regarding the enigma of faith. If you do “see” the image in the square it will be very “abstract,” but also, so distinct that it feels like you can just reach out and touch it – without 3D glasses!
Next week we consider arguments related to the existence of the illusive 3D dinosaur supposedly hiding in plain sight within a conglomeration of abstract patterns called a 3D Stereogram in Part Two of “The Story of God: Understanding the Religious Paradigm.”
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Excerpt from Tomorrow’s Untangling the Knots of Reality – Podcast #40: "Untangling Hobbes and the Leviathan"
This Week on “The Thread”…
•Untangling the Knots of Reality Podcast: #40 "Untangling Hobbes and the Leviathan" (“With the failure of the French Revolution, Hobbes’ and Locke’s arguments become the foundational influences in how best to establish a new enlightened form of government. Hobbes and Locke reflect the natural duality of government’s attempt to balance individual freedom and autonomy with social values and concerns, particularly related to social stability, security, and order. The essential argument over this balance of power between government and citizens continues today with the arguments remaining relatively unchanged since the Age of Reason.…” ) Also Previewing the New Online Course!
•Reality by a Thread Discussion Thread: Previewing Book V: “Level Two Conscious Awareness…” (EXCERPT: Level two conscious awareness represents the initial stage of what we would now call “critical thinking.” We begin to move from recognizing the patterns of reality, to questioning why these patterns exist and how they work. This is the foundation of Theology and Science, both being rational disciplines based on a consideration of existential and empirical questions related to
“where” these patterns originated; “how” these patterns affect us; “who,” or “what,” is ultimately responsible for these patterns; “why” the universe, or reality, is the expressed through these patterns; and “when” it all began. Human beings begin to ask these types of questions at the second level of conscious awareness.)•FREE PDF Download of Book IV: “The Cosmic Symphony – Overtones of String Theory” plus other Free Books, Discounts and Benefits.
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