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RE: The illusion of control, existence and everything
Fascinating stuff, our universe was something else just a few decades ago and today it's as if our universe is no more. But it still is, but it never was. A most confusing perspective.
I'm personally quite utalitarian, so perspectives that are confusing and/or useless are not perspectives to my opinion. It's like a screen that so badly calibered that it is no longer usable, to the point where you can only theorize the new nature of the screen but not too use it in any way.
Which could easily less one to believe that everything is a matter of faith.
How come? There's so much in our world that needs none of anyone's faith to exist, operate and serve. Technology, methodologies, plain facts..
Yes, we have technology and much of our experience feels "solid". But quantum physics informs us that the very particles of which we are made are a matter of probability, not certainty.
Considering the tiny fraction of reality that actually contains any substance at all, it is a wonder to me that we can call any of it real. In my day to day, moment to moment experience, I accept what I see as "real", knowing that what I see is mostly empty space.
I think that there is a quote from the movie, The Matrix that is appropriate here:
That would be me. I don't see life in terms of certainty anymore. I just reserve judgment long enough to see what happens next.
I believe that you are confusing concepts of the nature of reality with the tools with which nuances in the field of quantum mechanics are measured.
First of all the perspective, a reality in which you are late for a bus is contextual, regardless of the atoms that make up you and the bus, their nature and the tools in which you are able to measure some visible but not understood aspects of those atoms - regardless of all of that - you're late.
It doesn't inform us of anything, our experience is solid because we wouldn't survive if we perceived it otherwise, we wouldn't be able to have this talk.
What if 20 from now we discover that in that empty space exists a the tiniest of material, and it fills the entire "vacuum" and explains dark matter and all. Will we then change our philosophies to align a new idea in which the reality is not unreal or devoid of matter but actually realer than we can possibly perceive?
Why base theories of life and meaning on the fundamentals of the universe instead of our greatest achievements and aspirations?
I think you offer some interesting points to consider, but I still maintain a sort of "agnostic" view of the universe. While I do enjoy the universe in all of it's splendor, from nebula to flower, silence to big band music, I have also considered the limits of our sensory perception. Our eyes and ears can perceived a tiny slice of their respective spectrum of light and sound. Our sense of taste and smell are limited to our capacity to process the food we eat and the odors we take in. Our sense of touch is limited to contact with our surroundings.
I disagree with you about whether or not quantum mechanics informs us of anything about our sense of reality - I think it does. Quantum mechanics is our most accurate tool for predicting the behavior of matter at very small scales. I have seen that quantum mechanics can be used to explain photosynthesis and I have a fair amount of confidence that it will be used one day to explain cognition in the brain and even vision. In that sense we are informed. I was trying to put that all into a perspective for myself to understand it all and shared that in my article.
You ask, "why base theories of life and meaning upon the fundamentals of the universe instead of our greatest achievements?" While our achievements are not lost on me, I think that achievement is somewhat overrated and pales in comparison to our need to relate to each other with compassion and understanding.
I am agnostic about everything (not just God). I am this way because I have been disappointed by my erroneous beliefs and missed many growth opportunities because I held onto them. I'm a fan of Alan Watts and his influence is in my writing too. As a result of my experience, I would rather live on faith as reserved judgment than to live on belief.
I would rather live with as few expectations as possible so as to experience the moment as it were, without expectation, and hopefully, less disappointment. What I wrote in my article is an attempt to articulate this sense about me, my philosophy of life and share that. That there is so little substance to the universe and that I still see something there, is a wonder to me. I wanted to share that, too.
How is it possible to be agnostic and say that these theories are informative? It's like saying you're religiously agnostic and the existence of a god explains a lot about biology, thoughts and everything..
I totally agree with you on the point of how we should orient towards notions that empower our compassion, the way I see it is that the current philosophical adaptations of the numerous and vague finding called quantum mechanics - lead to a much more dissociative, detached, almost nihilistic point of view. The solidity if our biology, thoughts and feelings and the social constructs we've built around them is much more compassionate than the uncertain positions of theoretical particles, wouldn't you agree?
And yes, Alan Watts is the very best 😙😀
Well, I'd say we have common ground then. I absolutely agree with you about compassion, Alan Watts, etc. You know, I write these articles not to say I'm right, I write them to say, "So, what do you think?"
I must admit that I've only read two of Watts' books, "The Wisdom of Insecurity", and "The Book On The Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are". The former completely changed my perspective on life in general, the latter seemed like part II of the first.
Though my agnostic attitude seems nonsensical, I find that it works for me. I am more than willing to admit that I'm confused, but I'm also willing to say that I don't know. My tiny little brain is simply no match for the universe. As much as I like the theory and the implications thereof, I still want to reserve judgment. I want to reserve judgment because my beliefs have gotten me into so much trouble in the past.
My goal over the last few years is to not have any expectations about people and still have compassion for them. I don't do one thing to make another thing happen. I do something to see what happens next.
So I agree with you that, to rephrase what you stated, the way our cultural worship of science is nihilistic, detached and lacks compassion for each other. It does tend to make us compete against each other if we let it. I have written articles on how we can find that compassion, too. I really think it's all a matter of skills and teaching them to each other. Humans seems to find a great deal of joy in mastery of skills. :)
@stavgeffen, it has been a great pleasure to correspond with you. I could keep going on for awhile, and I'm glad we did find some common ground. I look forward to reading your articles should you get around to posting some. Be well.