VIDEO REQUEST: Tell us your views on science, truth, knowledge, spirituality, etc.
I personally don’t think personal experiments are reliable enough for objective truth claims because we easily deceive ourselves in all kinds of ways. And that is exactly what science is for. Science is all about experiments and verifying truth claims or disproving them. The methdology itself is worth studying and understanding but requires developing a solid base in math, physics, and logic that become a kind of intellectual intuition to navigate objective reality. And no it’s not at all about just believing some authority. That is actually a known fallacy in science called appeal to authority. Trusting “the science” and trusting “scientists” are two separate things. This is the beauty of science because opinions don’t matter.
Look at the consensus of a given topic as a starting point then go from there. Does science get it wrong sometimes? Yes. Are scientific institutions prone to corruption? Possibly but that scientific methodology and peer-review process itself takes all this into account and minimises it better than any other methodology. I suggest learning why and making this a priority. It will make you a better person (Carl Sagan called it a “candle in the dark”). Does it require time and effort? Yes it does. This is not just a 5 hour documentary you can watch online with screenshots of memes and misquotes. You will actually have to learn some new things and use your brain.
As for subjective truth, that is all about spirituality which is your own internal experience. So what you experience is of course valid to you. Communicating that experience to others is the realm of poetry, philosophy and entertainment,
Can we bridge science and spirituality? Perhaps. But I am not sure how yet. I think Sam Harris is doing interesting work with his brilliant app. The best book on this subject I have read is “Evolutionary Enlightenment” by Andrew Cohen. (There is a great interview with him on Sam’s app). Also I personally love the work of Ken Wilber and his integral theory. I just think all these guys are missing the health aspect which is crucial to our thriving as individuals and as a species. Pharma/medicine is mostly junk science.
My lifework is dedicated to that very thing as an artist, human and truth seeker. To integrate science, art, activism, health, wealth, selfhelp and making it fun, uniting and entertaining but challenging. I think it’s time to go beyond all these ideologies and perspectives and find common ground. And then build on that. This is the new age of humanity. Homo Spiritus!
Thanks for reading.