DrZoidberg
Contributor
I don't think spiritualism is escapism. Science and the scientific mindset is all about describing the world by simplifying it and slapping labels on all components. If you want to be a man of action who gets things done, this is most efficient way to organise your life.Some people feel good without a need for escapism and the 'spiritual' so to s[eak.
Or to quote Pinker, "chemistry isn't the study of sticks and balls. The sticks and balls aren't actually there. Molecules aren't even arranged in the pattern chemistry schematics suggest they are".
In this very scientifically litterate world insisting that science is the only valid language, that I think is the problematic escapism of our age.
But it gets even more complicated. Scientism is so pervasive that we get religious fundamentalism. I don't know if you have noticed, but creationists use scientific language and scientific ways of thinking to justify their beliefs. New Age uses quantum mechanic terms to justify their beliefs. This is not religion or spiritualism. Its just bad science.
Before the discovery of electricity mystics and spiritualists never talked about energy. The whole concept of feeling eachothers energy is 100% scientism. Its just bad science. Very bad science. If you think this is what spirituality is, then of course you will think it's dumb.
But it used to be worse. Scientific positivism, that gave us stuff like eugenics, Nazism and scientific racism was peak scientism. Our world is recovering from that lunacy.
As I see it is that we are essentially a bunch of monkeys that have learned symbolic thinking and a language to describe those symbols. Which is cool. But we're still mostly monkeys. Non-verbal in our emotional life. Science is 100% verbal and symbolic thinking.
The monkey in us needs to feel validated and taken care of. And as long as we ignore it we are making ourselves very easy to manipulate.
I think that thinking there's a conflict between science and religion is a mistake. I don’t even like Gould's non-overlapping magisteria. Science and religion/spiritualism are talking about completely different dimensions of being.
Religion has nothing to say about how or why a tree grows. All religion can do is help us understand why we care about it and help us explore how we feel about it.
The evolutionary drive to procreation explains why you have a girlfriend. That doesn't explain at all why you have that girlfriend in particular, or how she validates you, makes you happy and inspires you to be a better person.
Last edited: