What do you believe?

Objective Truth

“The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counter-intuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true.”

Carl Sagan

I'll be honest with you, I'd like to believe in angels and fairy-folk. I'd like to think that the spirits of our good ancestors, and not our bad or difficult ones, are all around us guiding our lives. I'd like to believe that all people are truly good and decent in their hearts and intentions, regardless of their behavior. My world view includes a day when the human family is all on the same page and dissension, war and corruption are things of the past. A day when kindness and compassion are the operative emotions, and not self-interest and greed. I want to believe that one day we'll wake up and realize the damage we're doing to our planet, and all of us will pull together to correct the problem. These are desires and beliefs that I hold near and dear—but that does not make them true.

One thing I do believe is true is science. It requires reason, measurement, objective proof, and independent verification. Sometimes results change because more information is discovered. The fact that the data changes with new evidence is a strength in my worldview and not a weakness. An example is that for centuries we believed that evolution was a slow, slow process; that species adapted to changing conditions only if those conditions were extremely gradual. Now we know that many species have adapted quickly, even to being able to change their color in order to blend in. Finches on the Galapagos Islands, for example, and a certain moth that has darkened its wing color because it lives in a sooty environment. Forest, prairie, and desert birds of prey, coyotes, and bobcats have now adapted to urban life.

Neil deGrasse Tyson wrote, “One of the biggest problems with the world today is that we have large groups of people who will accept whatever they hear on the grapevine, just because it suits their worldview—not because it's actually true or because they have evidence to support it...people prefer reassurance to research.” As long as we have people who will blindly follow, there will be leaders who will take advantage of that weakness for their own nefarious purposes. Some people say, “If it's not in the Bible, I don't believe it. If it's in the Bible, I believe it in the most literal terms.” That does not make it true. God gave us brains, God did not stop speaking in A.D. 150, and I'm sorry, but God did not write the Bible. The miracle of scientific discovery is a gift from the same Source that gave us the Bible, the Torah, the Koran, the Bhagavad Gita. Why not use our good brains, and our good souls for the good of all?

                                                            In the Spirit,

                                                                  Jane