Short answer to my blog post title: No. Absolutely not. Especially in these 21st century times. Maybe back in the Dark Ages, when accurate scientific knowledge was extremely limited.
Today we know with considerable certainty that the universe is some 13.7 billion years old, having begun in a big bang that is still banging (and indeed, accelerating).
And that life has evolved on Earth from humble unicellular beginnings to we Homo sapiens who are able to contemplate our origins.
And that the "mind" is a product of the "brain," an amazingly complex agglomeration of neural processes which enable us to perceive, feel, intuit, and understand all that science has come to know.
Science has not found any convincing evidence that a spiritual side to reality exists. By "spiritual," I mean metaphysical, non-material, something other than the matter/energy that the countless entities in our universe are fashioned out of.
I'm not talking about a philosophical, soulful, or religious attitude, nor an attempt to comprehend what is most meaningful in one's life.
All of this is part of materiality, since it transpires by means of a physical body/brain/mind living within the physical time/space continuum. So if there is something genuinely spiritual, the word something points us in the wrong direction.
Some thing in the material universe won't be spiritual. In addition to obvious thing-like objects, this includes thoughts, emotions, concepts, beliefs, and imaginings, since all of these are manifestations of the brain.
Thus anyone who seriously seeks "spirit" has to be reasonably well acquainted with modern science, since so much of what once was considered metaphysical now is recognized as almost certainly being within the bounds of materiality.
Notably, the consciousness of people who are seriously seeking spirit. If you don't believe this, educate yourself on modern neuroscience. I can recommend Paul Thagard's "The Brain and the Meaning of Life," a recently published book that I'm currently reading. Excerpt:
Some philosophers think that ascription to the brain of psychological properties such as consciousness is incoherent -- it simply makes no sense. Well, it may not make sense if your conceptual scheme is mired in dualism, but understanding the mind requires willingness to develop and consider the evidence for new conceptual schemes.
Just as the Copernican, Darwinian, and other scientific revolutions required gradual appreciation of the explanatory force of new conceptual schemes, so the Brain Revolution requires recognition of the explanatory gains that become available when the neural mechanisms for neural processes such as perception are identified.
The best response to people who say that they just can't imagine how the mind could be the brain is: try harder. Overcoming the compelling illusion that the mind is nonmaterial is not easy, but one can succeed in doing so by acquiring sufficient understanding of neural mechanisms for thought and behavior.
If "spiritual" isn't something physical, respect for the truthfulness of a hypothesized metaphysical entity -- whether this be a personal God or some impersonal cosmic force -- demands that a spiritual aspirant not mistake a worldly phenomenon for what he or she is seeking.
Without understanding what science has learned about the nature of physical reality, how is it possible to be sure that one has gone beyond the bounds of materiality?
For example, neuroscientists have found that perceptions aren't a mirror of what is "really" there to be perceived. Expectations, previous experiences, and other factors influence how the mind/brain views reality.
Without taking this into account, an attitude of "I had a divine vision of X, so it must be true" is highly naive. Most of what our brains present to our conscious awareness springs from hidden neural processes.
The scientific method recognizes the fallibility of human cognition, perception, and emotion. It systematically tests possible hypotheses concerning the nature of reality to sort out the likely true from the likely false (absolute certainty isn't an attribute of science).
Spiritual seekers need to do the same -- a tough job. Indeed, a really tough job. I have no idea how someone alive as a physical body/brain could ever know that they've transcended the bounds of materiality.
But they can recognize when they haven't.
Which will keep them humble, open-minded, and respectful of how science is the best friend of spirituality, since it is the only way of distinguishing what is material from what is possibly spiritual.
Well, that's it, then. There is nothing more to life than what is plainly obvious. We are born, we live, and then we die.
No need to guess about what death is. You cease to exist. THEN THERE IS NO LONGER A "YOU" TO EVER HAVE LIVED IN THE FIRST PLACE.
The implications of this simple, obvious reality are staggering. It means that your life means absolutely nothing. Even scientific facts are completely meaningless. So the universe is 13.7 billion years old. WTF? Like that means jack shit. Like your consciousness is an emergent property of neuronal organization. Big fucking deal.
It does not matter what you think, believe, feel, or say. There is nothing to figure out, no necessary conclusions that need to be reached, no "bucket list" of things you need to do before you die.
So have a nice life. Or don't - I certainly don't care, and I don't care whether you do or not.
Life is sooooo scary.........
Posted by: Willie R. | May 28, 2010 at 05:43 PM