Jul 03
Your world is ruled by things that don’t exist
This post goes out to religion bashing scientists and people who think conspiracy theorists are nuts, because people on both sides of those issues have been giving me all kind of crazy lately…
The point I want to make is that even if something is completely wrong and completely flawed, it can still be just as important as whats right.
Take for example, the concept of a centre of gravity. You can measure and predict the centre of gravity of an object, you can change where it is and how it affects things, but you can rip apart the world and never find one. The centre of gravity doesn’t exist, but it’s there nevertheless.
We hit this same thing in the taoist concept of Chi. You can do all kinds of scientific studies to prove chi doesn’t exist, but when a tai chi instructer focuses his chi and pushes you so hard you bounce off the opposite wall, that won’t be much consolation. One of the great things about taoism is that even if you don’t believe it literally, as a metaphor it still works. Chi is a great way of getting your mind to understand how to move muscles better. Its damn near impossible to conciously control your muscles, but as a metaphor, chi helps you feel the kinetic forces in your muscles, the blood in your veins and the spinning wheels in your mind to help you deliver a more powerful punch, a stronger stance and a better grip on reality.
But what does all this mean in the real world?
It means that sometimes you have to give up on trying to be right on principles all the time and learn to relax and accept, allow and use what you disagree with to make your world a better place, solve your problems faster and easier.
Even if God doesn’t exist, religion can provide meaning to life that science has yet to do, conspiracy theorists rant about the new world order that rules our life without us knowing and even if they are just crazy, we need to crazies making noise and asking awkward to keep the government on their toes so the conspiracies don’t come true.
look at the crazies, the ones you oppose and ask if either of you are really getting doing what you claim to be doing or getting too distracted by being “right”.
Sometimes you need your enemies more than you realise…
reply with comments (especially if I completely failed to make sense) and arguaments!
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July 4th, 2008 at 8:11 am
I don’t think your gravity analogy quite works; it’s never been claimed that the centre of gravity of an object is a physical point, rather than a theoretical one. At least, not by anyone sensible. There’s nothing wrong with using metaphors like this, as long as everyone concerned realises that it’s Not Real, and just a useful way of thinking about something. (The direction of electrical current is another one that springs to mind.)
The problem comes when people a) believe that their metaphor is true, and b) start getting huffy when other people insist it’s just a metaphor (and expecting everybody to believe that the metaphor is literally true, and so on).
July 4th, 2008 at 11:50 am
its good thing scientists never get huffy when other people don’t believe what they say is true isn’t it
The thing about people getting huffy is that they do it as soon as you disagree with them, any idea about actual right and wrong tend to be completely out the window on both sides
If all I’m trying to do is work out whether something is going to fall over does it make a practical difference whether I believe a COG is imaginary or a physical thing? Its still going to fall over at the same angle…
admitedly when people try and push their beliefs onto other people you have a major problem, but in defence of religion, many scientists are just as guilty of the same thing against religions
July 4th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
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