I think a lot can be told about a person in the way he or she loves. I don't believe this tells whether this person is good or bad. I don't even believe the amount of love in a person's life tells that, because I'm talking about love(a): giving a piece of your heart to someone, being attached to someone; not love(b): you are my neighbor and I am nice to you, I put you before myself because I'm not a selfish person. Love(b) takes integrity and effort. It is not more shallow than love(a) but in many ways it is less complex and encompassing and dynamic. Love(a) comes, for the most part, naturally and it takes effort to fight it and we truly express this love in very different ways. (Gary Chapman, actually, has consolidated these into what he calls the five love languages.) Anyway, I guess what I really want to say here is that if we've seemed to lose ourselves our best way to get back on track with our identity is by looking at our caring for those close to us. I only say this because I have experienced it, and maybe I have no idea whether it's true with anyone but me. But when I seem to blend in with those around me, or, rather, when everyone in the crowd seems to have a stronger personality than I do (or whatever it is), if I look to how I care about people, to those I really love, that love is strong and true and tangible in my actions and feelings. And so I know that I'm real.
I think that I originally had more to say about this. Oh well.
Anyway, another heated discussion in biology yesterday. I'm gonna illustrate here the point I don't think I communicated very well in class:
We are studying possibilities for the origin of life and I have a problem with it because they are taught as theories and so, in other words, they are presented as consented fact.
Science is based entirely on observation. We look at the world around us, observe the way things interact with each other, watch nature, detect patterns, and draw conclusions that -- emphasized strongly by the teacher ("Proof is the bad p-word! No such thing! We don't ever say 'fact'!") -- are justifiable but not set in stone. (Justified vs. unjustifiable is a topic among my friends in TOK, actually. Maybe I'll bring it up later.) There are entire systems set up (the scientific method, for example) that ensure that scientists are drawing valid conclusions and not being hasty. Complex processes are required in the scientific community, always encouraging the researcher and observer to think creatively but always completely objectively. And nothing is (that is, should be) accepted by the scientific community unless it has successfully passed through this security system.
Every single scientific believer/researcher/student/whatever that puts faith in one of the 'theories' for origin of life is brushing the "We only draw valid conclusions!" doctrine off of his shoulder with a scoff. The observable data that is the entire foundation for every single valid scientific conclusion drawn (every theory) is made up in the origin of life theories. The problem with figuring out what was going on at the creation of life is that at the time, life hadn't been. So, um, we weren't there to observe it. Nobody knows, or has any way of knowing, the composition or state of earth a kajibillion years ago, and science isn't even close to being agreed on any possibilities concerning that topic.
Every theory I've heard for the origin of life is a great, plausible possibility for how life began. It is not a valid conclusion. The only conclusion that can be drawn is, "If the circumstances on earth were exactly like the ones I made up for my experiment, life probably would have begun this way." If somebody could show me that a meteor containing organic matter landed on earth under the right conditions a kajibillion years ago, then I would say, "Yeah, you know, panspermia is almost certainly the way to go with how life began." If someone could confirm that Miller and Urey were right on in the atmospheric conditions they created with their experiment I'd be of the opinion that Oparin was way cool. If someone was able to prove to me (or even just give some evidence!) that there was a lack of atmosphere on earth and the sun's rays weren't as intense a kajibillion (which is, in fact, a mathematical term [incidentally I'm lying]) years ago, then I would have no trouble agreeing that the top 300meters of the ocean probably froze over and that whatever origin of life idea that depends on this condition I can't remember is probably correct.
It is very frustrating for me when people assume that I am stupid or ignorant because I am a Christian. I will bet those people a thousand dollars of which I am only sort of in possession that I have thought about it a significantly greater amount more than they have. I'm an intellectually- and logically-based, critical, inquisitive person. I have a lot of trouble believing something if it hasn't been logically and rationally worked out for me. I ask the same questions you do, and then I find answers to them.
I am so sure this topic will come up again, but for now I will leave you with some lyrics and a recommendation to read some C.S. Lewis. Mere Christianity, specifically.
The Truth, by Relient K
And I've collected all these thoughts
and I'm dying just to lose them
and if your words are true or not
I'll die trying to prove them
But I'll just have to accept
That my mind is so inept
When the only thing that's left
For me to do is to trust you
Convince me
Because I really need your help
Oh convince me
Because I can't see this for myself
I'll put the emphasis on the evidence
Begging for the proof (whoa)
Sometimes the hardest thing to believe
Is the truth
This is so unnerving
I know you've never lied to me before
But the things you're telling me
I can't yet believe yet can't ignore
But I'll just have to accept
That my mind is so inept
And the only thing that's left
For me to do is to trust you
I'll put the emphasis on the evidence
Begging for the proof
Sometimes the hardest thing to believe
Is the truth
You said to place our lives into your hands
Confide in what you'll do
Sometimes the hardest thing to believe
Is the truth
It's a world full of cynics
Who say to stay alive in it
You gotta stick with what you know
But the soul is always aching
For the heart to start taking
A chance by letting go
So let go
Let go
Sometimes the hardest thing to believe
Is the truth
You said to place our lives into your hands
Confide in what you'll do
Sometimes when you're trying to sleep
And all your doubts and your faith don't agree
It's because
Sometimes the hardest thing to believe is the Truth
Current music:
Daisy, Switchfoot
Darlin', Between the Trees
The Truth, Relient K
Rules and Regulations, Rufus Wainwright
Currently reading:
Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
For the record: I think you communicated that in class just fine. Everyone's just a little defensive, which is understandable given the touchiness of the subject.
I think it's exactly that touchiness that makes people think they have to have a concrete answer. If we can separate this all out from faith and politics (what was going to be my original point in the original discussion when I got shut down) it'll work out a lot better, imo. And I think it will be. Faith - no, religion - has gotten tied up in every hot button issue since the beginning of time, and it almost never makes things better, and eventually the church decides it has better things to focus on (...like God) and leaves it alone. And if we wait this out, our kids won't think twice about it when the theories are discussed - but then there'll be something else in their culture that people think clashes with religion. Oy. This world. Roi and I had a conversation once about what things we think might make God roll His eyes at; that we see as so important. Silly humans.
Everybody is indeed very touchy about this subject, me included (me especially). The thing is, nobody else seems to really have any concrete answers even if they feel as if they need one. I think I appear very attacking and accusatory (which is because, to be honest, I am), which makes people defensive which makes them a lot less likely to listen to me, probably. Because they just want to fight me instead of thinking about what I say. It is a huge mistake on my part and I'm working on it. And I would not resent you calling me on it at all.
That was a little bit irrelevant to what you said and I'm sorry. But yes, I agree completely.
Post a Comment