We are All Right in Our Own Way

You may notice that there are many religions, superstitions, and metaphysical beliefs in the world. However, one rational way of understanding that has led human to suceed as a species is through science. Everything mentioned earlier provides ways for us to make sense of the world by explaining how or why things happen. Although some may argue that science is more “true” than religion (or vice versa), the fact is that we are all right in our way.

First off, knowledge. We usually think of knowledge as something factual. Now let’s define what a “fact” is. “Fact” means something that has actual existence or is objective. But how do we know if something is “real”? What if we exist in a simulation?

-We actually can’t! And that is because we live in reality. There is no way that we can see “reality”, just like how we can’t see ourselves in the way that other people do. In order to see ourselves, we need a mirror. In our “reality”, that mirror is our set of senses, which gives us a mere shadow of “reality”.

And so that brings us to the fact that we are never correct or wrong. Nothing is truly objective. Knowledge exists thanks to our observation of the world which arises from our senses. It gets stashed as neural connections which makes it possible for us to interpret the world in a way that “makes sense”.

Science, religion, and superstitions come from the same thing: observation. They are just ways to make sense of the world. Of all the above, science seems to be the best way of predicting and explaining this world. Religion tells us how to live our life with virtue. Superstisions may explain things that are just impossible to wrap around our head. But then again, human rationality is just human rationality.

So now, when you can’t win an argument about a different view of this world: embrace it. It’s a friendly reminder of how knowledge is just.. observation.