We always need explanations!
One of my favorite topics in my Philosophy classes is the topic of the birth of Philosophy in Ancient Greece and the step from myth to logos, or the Greek Miracle, as it is known by many. This movement, in which men stopped trusting imagination to start relying only in reason, represented a giant leap in humanity's progress, in the same level as the use of writing or the invention of the wheel, because it woke up in humanity a dormant need for explanations that could be justified by the use of hard facts.
This need, which is a natural need, as once Aristotle described it in his Metaphysics, has been key in the systematic explanation of all phenomena that surrounds man, it was the need to understand deeply and completely the reality that surrounded humanity in every possible dimension; however, this complete trust in reason took man away from the natural creativity that was given by Mother Nature in the beginning: Imagination is a skill required to see what is not present (as Hannah Arendt defined it) , but also to create things than have not come to be yet, that are simply images in our mind. Without imagination invention is not possible and thus creation becomes something not necessary for progress, a power in hands of gods and goddesses, of superior beings, or so this believed Ancient Greeks, which were misread by many after that and with the coming of monotheistic religions, everything became entangled and confusing.
We were taught to believe the myths given by religion which were roughly based on the rational construction of Medieval Philosophers, who were trying hard to make Faith and Reason work together in favor of Christendom and expansion of Christianity throughout the world (and if it could be possible, I think even the Universe). So for long, myth, religion and reason were working against each other trying to do the same job: religion is trying to connect us back with our roots, with our ancestors, with our culture, with the origin; myth in the other hand is trying to explain the origin and natural order of the Universe and, finally, reason is trying to give a structure to all the knowledge gathered through different means (whether is myth or scientific theory to explain reality). In this constant struggle, humanity feels lost, confused and few know which road to take.
This thought came to me while listening to a recent song from my favorite artist, Björk Guðmundsdóttir, who has created a new album called "Biophilia" and starts with a song called "Cosmogony" (which means "Origin of the Cosmos); this songs narrates three different myths from different cultures which explain the origin of the Universe and ends with the current explanation given by science and that we know as the Big Bang Theory. In perspective, when you hear the four explanations in the song, three of them sound silly not because they are silly but because we were taught to believe they are so, because for us a fox singing is not a reasonable explanation of the origin of the Universe, so is a black egg or carvings made by our ancestors who then went back to sleep; what is really difficult to believe is that these are not considered unreasonable explanations for science, but for religion, as we have been taught that there is only one true explanation and it is in the Bible.
Have we ever considered that maybe even the Big Bang Theory is a myth as well? I know that our natural inclination to rely in our logical thinking, in reason, has led us to dismiss any explanation without facts, but we have forgotten the original purpose of myth and the original purpose of science: we need an explanation, we crave it everyday, we ask for it each time we blink, is what gives us purpose in a chaotic world, is what gives sense to reality, no matter where this explanation comes from. We need it because deep inside we feel our lives are meaningless and senseless, we are no different than rocks, plants or other animals, we are just another creature in a vast and infinite Universe in which even our blue planet is nothing but a mere grain of sand, almost microscopic. So this is when religion comes to play, as it links us back to this explanations and gives us a sense of belonging, a purpose, a reality that makes sense and is full of rules we must obey blindly, which is not a bad thing, because it keeps us from wandering off into the realms of the unknown, of the true reality, the one that our mind cannot grasp through the understanding of its chaos and randomness.
Ancient myths described this reality before explanation as dark void, the empty belly of a giant god that kept us from the light of knowledge, is our most primal fear, is the embodiment of truth, which we will never attain, not through science and cold hard logical reasoning nor through myth and its fantastic explanations.
So, the final reflection, is just believe what you want to believe, reality is basically what we make of it, get amazed by the vastness of the Universe and the laws we have understood and those we will never do, go outside and look at the stars and hear the music their singing as our ancestors did thousands of years ago.
Listen to the song... the rest is up to you!
This need, which is a natural need, as once Aristotle described it in his Metaphysics, has been key in the systematic explanation of all phenomena that surrounds man, it was the need to understand deeply and completely the reality that surrounded humanity in every possible dimension; however, this complete trust in reason took man away from the natural creativity that was given by Mother Nature in the beginning: Imagination is a skill required to see what is not present (as Hannah Arendt defined it) , but also to create things than have not come to be yet, that are simply images in our mind. Without imagination invention is not possible and thus creation becomes something not necessary for progress, a power in hands of gods and goddesses, of superior beings, or so this believed Ancient Greeks, which were misread by many after that and with the coming of monotheistic religions, everything became entangled and confusing.
We were taught to believe the myths given by religion which were roughly based on the rational construction of Medieval Philosophers, who were trying hard to make Faith and Reason work together in favor of Christendom and expansion of Christianity throughout the world (and if it could be possible, I think even the Universe). So for long, myth, religion and reason were working against each other trying to do the same job: religion is trying to connect us back with our roots, with our ancestors, with our culture, with the origin; myth in the other hand is trying to explain the origin and natural order of the Universe and, finally, reason is trying to give a structure to all the knowledge gathered through different means (whether is myth or scientific theory to explain reality). In this constant struggle, humanity feels lost, confused and few know which road to take.
This thought came to me while listening to a recent song from my favorite artist, Björk Guðmundsdóttir, who has created a new album called "Biophilia" and starts with a song called "Cosmogony" (which means "Origin of the Cosmos); this songs narrates three different myths from different cultures which explain the origin of the Universe and ends with the current explanation given by science and that we know as the Big Bang Theory. In perspective, when you hear the four explanations in the song, three of them sound silly not because they are silly but because we were taught to believe they are so, because for us a fox singing is not a reasonable explanation of the origin of the Universe, so is a black egg or carvings made by our ancestors who then went back to sleep; what is really difficult to believe is that these are not considered unreasonable explanations for science, but for religion, as we have been taught that there is only one true explanation and it is in the Bible.
Have we ever considered that maybe even the Big Bang Theory is a myth as well? I know that our natural inclination to rely in our logical thinking, in reason, has led us to dismiss any explanation without facts, but we have forgotten the original purpose of myth and the original purpose of science: we need an explanation, we crave it everyday, we ask for it each time we blink, is what gives us purpose in a chaotic world, is what gives sense to reality, no matter where this explanation comes from. We need it because deep inside we feel our lives are meaningless and senseless, we are no different than rocks, plants or other animals, we are just another creature in a vast and infinite Universe in which even our blue planet is nothing but a mere grain of sand, almost microscopic. So this is when religion comes to play, as it links us back to this explanations and gives us a sense of belonging, a purpose, a reality that makes sense and is full of rules we must obey blindly, which is not a bad thing, because it keeps us from wandering off into the realms of the unknown, of the true reality, the one that our mind cannot grasp through the understanding of its chaos and randomness.
Ancient myths described this reality before explanation as dark void, the empty belly of a giant god that kept us from the light of knowledge, is our most primal fear, is the embodiment of truth, which we will never attain, not through science and cold hard logical reasoning nor through myth and its fantastic explanations.
So, the final reflection, is just believe what you want to believe, reality is basically what we make of it, get amazed by the vastness of the Universe and the laws we have understood and those we will never do, go outside and look at the stars and hear the music their singing as our ancestors did thousands of years ago.
Listen to the song... the rest is up to you!
Björk - "Cosmogony" from the album "Biophilia"
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