The idea that the nature of the world can be grasped in its fullness with a purely rational method, as many a physicist and scientist believes, always makes me wonder how those who seriously take this as fact are not in some way deluding themselves (and others)?
To believe that the world can be fully understood and explained with words, numbers and symbols is, to my mind, to be burdened from the start with a great impediment.
Just off the top, using math as an example: if the math needs to be juggled in order to maintain its consistency with a basic assumption, and further that – the problem persisting after X number of “corrections” are made – the assumption must be changed, then how is such “groping” or “guessing” smarter than “groping” or “guessing” in any other discipline aimed at discovering the true nature of things? Is this not rationalizing to the nth degree?
The role of science in providing handles on reality that render the world less mysterious, less troublesome, and more productive of a better life is not at issue here.
It is the leap required to reach an understanding of reality per se. Which is why I do not allow science or other strictly rational discipline to become my “faith” regarding the true nature of the world. It’s not that I distrust rationality but that pre- or supra-rational paths to knowledge have served giants of intellect whom I do trust.
The pursuit of ultimate knowledge of the world along a path of strict rationality is apt to become a trip to a terminal dead-end, the common destination of circular reasoning that rationalists are prone to embark on. It was the incomparable thinker Socrates who confessed that “I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.” In the spirit of that honest appraisal, my leap is to a faith in God, taken by millions who have found this more enlightening than any other guide to reality.
It has ever been clear to minds of surpassing intelligence, that reality resists bagging with the human mind. The impossibility of grasping it with words and symbols has led many to see (and sense) the connection of reality to the Mind of the Creator. The truly smart have been aware of the necessity to align any take on reality with being human, which gives voice to justifiable dissent from purely rational takes on reality.
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I regard it as totally presumptive to claim that the discoveries regarding the world by men like Aristotle and Aquinas and Shakespeare and the host of similarly gifted intellects the world has known are less “real” or “true” or “valid” or “intelligent” than any made by intellects of modern and post-modern times.
It boils down to this: Every take on reality is couched in a bias. The challenge for the serious is to find the best one – best, that is, in covering what is most important to human beings. The one that encompasses the most about what is most important to human beings gravitates toward God, the Creator. It is impossible for any human being to find a better, more natural take on reality. And it need surprise no one that when it comes down to the things of greatest significance in our lives – love, hate, loyalty, treachery, attraction to beauty and truth, etc., etc. ad infinitum – morally decadent leaders remain silent or spout dismissive rhetoric to hide their embarrassment.
This is not to imply that poets, artists, philosophers, theologians, and other non-scientific specialists reaching for enlightenment about the world are in a better position to grasp reality, but that they are animated in some measure by an awareness of human shortcomings in attaining that goal. Compare that attitude with the one held by individuals who believe or act as though there are no limits to human knowledge – an unverifiable assumption that lets the hungry-for-power to fill-in the blanks and take charge of everything, including our lives.
Missing from the calculations of strict rationalists in regard to reality is the part of reality that indicates an inherent weakness in humans for determining what is good and what is evil. It’s a human flaw that does not show up on the radar of social science. Christian theology identifies it as “man’s original sin.” But this immanent human weakness to recognize and countenance evil grants prelates of power the fake authority to possess us. And it keeps the door of reality locked that would open to the fullness of life for every man, woman, and child.
If the passing grade for knowing reality is that it can be expressed mathematically and verified scientifically, then I exit the discussion. There is little to be added to that confining position. Seventy-plus decades of attention to reality have taught me that such a single-minded position regarding the actual nature of the world cannot stand alone in explaining, let alone grasping, its realty.
Judging from the troubling signs and alarms infesting our times, it appears that most of our leaders have lost their way and are fighting reality instead of joining it, so that they may get back on track to real human progress.
Anthony J. DeBlasi is a veteran and longtime defender of Western culture.
