I agree absolutely, but I think it is interesting that what people seem to be
searching for is "the one sentence answer" to life. Maybe Douglas Adams had it
right when he said the answer to life the universe and everything was "42". My
interpretation of that joke is that the question itself is absurd; no response
will satisfy the "hunger" that the question represents. Why not just say "42"?
In the end any "answer" will seem correct only for a time, and thereafter will
appear a delusion, perhaps an embarrasing one. Life is, in the absolute, it's
own answer. Anything simpler will not be accurate.
This is the point. Science does not find "the truth" nor does logic. What
both find is an approximation which it is possible to hold in our little heads;
unlike the "absolute truth" which is too large, complicated, and messy. The
scientific model is inherently dynamic and in essence the approximation is
always changing to accomodate new observation. Scientific truth is relative
and chaotic...and powerful. It is the most successful way of understanding, as
evidenced by it's infection of every discipline.
Actually, the whole argument AGAINST religion is a moot point. The falacies of
religion are obvious and those refusing to acknowledge this become less
adaptable as a result of their denial or lack of vision. Selection demands
that they convert or suffer extinction. Not by direct action of the rational
portion of humanity, but simply as a result of their inability to compete
effectively for resources or wield the power that new discoveries about reality
bring. The current rise in fundamentalism can easily be interpreted as the
last fervent death throws of an outmoded and decaying institution. In the end
the strident cries of the faithful will have no more power over "reality" that
the words of Ozymandias. God does not exist, except as human minds create it.
From this axiom one can predict the end of religion, just as one predicts the
extinction of all systems not adapting sufficiently to their changing
environment.
We must take care, however, that in the process of searcing for a new paradigm
of spirituality and trancendent meaning we do not make the mistake of asking
the same unanswerable questions as our ancestors. If we give up the belief in
God, we might as well also give up the belief in absolute truth. Neither
concept is currently doing us any good.
Reed
konsler@ascat.harvard.edu