How to Arrive at Truth
Even the greatest philosophers, modern as well as ancient, couldn’t agree on a definition of their field of learning. No set of words seem to adequately present or represent this subject which, by all accounts, must be the largest, though not necessarily the greatest, of them all. But no matter. As a race of incredibly inquisitive beings, right from the very first day that we are born, there exists within all of us a profound yearning to know.
Maybe it is as the evolutionists proclaim. Simply that the effort to know or to find out is none other than a manifestation of the basest of all desires. And this, they say, is the quest to survive. Do you suppose that I have just arrived at some truth? Hardly. The definition of an untruth is that even if a thousand indicators point to a singular conclusion, it only takes one instant of something to point the other way and the entire system falls over in a pathetic heap. Not my rules, but the tenets of science as its overbearing presence guards against any individual who dares to purport some new idea or theory.
Darwin was indeed an individual of immense capacity for genius and of course as with all people of such acumen and thinking, he was at least a generation ahead of his time. He painstakingly, systematically, methodically, scientifically, empirically, observed, absorbed and explained what he saw in nature until a central theme to all his work was born. He concluded that all life was connected. Over time, a lesser species led to a more sophisticated one by a series of mutations of its genetic code, preserving the most valuable assets while discarding the rest. He observed this purely from a macroscopic viewpoint and extrapolated to he microscopic. This propagation of the fittest was affectionately coined as the process of natural selection.
Despite some very large scientific holes in the argument for the theory of evolution, not least of all the hitherto unexplained gaps in the genealogy of many species, this does nothing to shake the confidence of today’s scientific world in the theory. But scientists are for the most part very clever people, and they too have consciences and rather like the idea of being able to sleep a little easier at night. So, they say that any doctrine based on the demonstration of scientific rigour that is observable, measurable and repeatable, stemming from things such as mathematical proofs or empirical evidence, is true. But guess what, this brilliant method for discovering truth has actually been more useful in keeping untruths out than facilitating the discovery of new ones.
Ask any scientist you like: “Do you think we are anywhere near to collectively knowing all there is?”, and you will get the same answer. “No.” Now ask: “How much do you think we do know, 1%, 10%, 50%..?” The question is silly. Of course it is. I don’t think any scientist worth his salt will put a percentage on it. In other words, the admission that we don’t know everything is made without hesitation but as to how much we know, there is no answer. But the scientist has a very cunning excuse out of this, saying that given time, all things may be known and all things may be explained using exactly the same scientific methods. A statement of faith if I ever heard one. In any case even this brilliant method for finding truth is flawed. Case in point is that, for more than two centuries, Newton’s laws of motion stood unchallenged until Einstein came along and said that the mass of an object can no longer be assumed to be constant under all circumstances because if it is made to accelerate near to the speed of light, mathematics as well as observable evidence suggest its mass will increase.
Given the above, did science abandon its methods? No. If therefore we can be fooled into thinking that something is true using our current methods, who is to say that any of the things we know are true. This is just cold, light-of-day logic. But surely, I hear you say, you can’t seriously suggest that we should abandon our scientific methods just because one or two theories have subsequently been proven to be false? Furthermore, what about the countless examples of scientific truth prised out of nature’s grasp because we stuck to these stringent methods.
Well, I led you straight to it. A rare example of leading a horse to water AND making it drink. You see, scientists hate this idea of the majority view. Consider how justice in the world is dispensed. Judges use the idea that the majority view is the correct view. That is, if all members of a jury cannot agree on whether a person is innocent or guilty of some crime, the majority verdict is then sought. But imagine if every quest for scientific truth was put to the test using the same criterion. For example suppose someone proposes that the moon is made of cheese. We randomly choose, say, a hundred adults, ask their opinion and if at least 80% say it’s true, based on whatever evidence is provided, we embrace the theory and place it among our annals of truth. How silly, I hear you say again. Yes, almost as silly as accepting the scientific criteria for discovering truth because the majority of scientists say it is the right way and firmly believe that it can be used to discover all truths.
Now, this brings me nicely to an individualistic method of arriving at truth. One which also depends on a majority view but only one person at a time is asked to accept or reject it. This is where the autonomy of the individual comes to the fore. If a person accepts some system of belief not based on scientific truth, we call it faith. The atheistic point of view regarding this is to say the least, blunt. The person who adopts faith as the central tenet of his or her life is surely one lacking in confidence, preferring to look for illusory means by which to improve or enrich their lives. But I must differ. I think that the only thing that separates a person of faith from the person with no faith is that the former is prepared to believe whereas the latter is prepared to disbelieve. The important thing here is not to attempt to say that either one or the other is the better way to live. Many atheists have converted and many faithful have turned away from their faith based on their personal convictions and experiences, born out of the autonomy afforded to every individual.
Even if we are taught one way or another during childhood years, our autonomy does not mature until we are free to accept or reject those teachings in later years. So, here now is the crunch. Those who have some sort of faith in God, believe also that there is a much greater, infinitely superior existence beyond the one being experienced here. For whatever reason, we are earthbound for a period of time and when this ends, the sum total of our actions, reactions and inactions is used to calculate for us a place in our spiritual destiny. This is undoubtedly an extraordinary statement of hope and comfort to all those that faithfully devote themselves to their creed. As for the atheists, they prefer to think that they cannot allow themselves to be fooled by the trappings of some religion that for the most part seeks to restrict even the joys that are possible. When we are free to choose, there is no criterion other than that which weighs heavily on our hearts.
The right to choose and the choices an individual makes are the real ingredients of faith and truth.
I am the author of a supernatural/fantasy novel called “Will of Dreams” which I hope the article above will incite sufficient interest within you to consider clicking on the link http://www.willofdreams.com leading you to the website dedicated to my book.
Tags: belief, Darwin, evolution, faith, fittest, natural selection, philosophy, religion, survival, truth