One of the things that knowledge has been doing wrong is taking for absolute truth things it has never known. -David Bohm
Oftentimes we feel that we are being attacked when our opinions are being challenged. This is the instinctual response initiated by the ego that becomes so defensive as to turn those opinions into truths even though they may be nothing more than our personal assumptions and may enabled by our backgrounds that don’t necessarily reflect the wider horizon of reality (see: Freedom From the Delusional Ego). We get these assumptions from our friends, family, teachers, books, movies and from other things. As time goes on, for one reason or another, we begin to identify with them and defend them passionately…sometimes to such unreasonable heights that we will die to defend these opinions and assumptions.
Science dedicates itself to the discovery of truths about the reality we find ourselves existing in. Yet here as well, we can find a similar detrimental mind process at work. Science tends to get caught up in necessity which becomes a major blockage for creativity and slows down the ability to discover and invent things that are truly possible, but are not being realized because of the ego-inflation many scientists have about what is possible and impossible. The general principles, values, and assumptions which are taken by those who dedicate their lives to science become “a major source of the destructive misinformation that is polluting the generative order of society” as physicist David Bohm put it.
Science likes to create the illusion that thought and feeling can be separated, yet time and time again, we can see this is not possible. We are not robots that run solely on logic or reason. We are mental and emotional beings. We cannot lie to ourselves in such a significant way or else we will not flower into an advanced and consciously creative force for positive change and progress. Thought and feeling are two aspects of one process, which is the response of recognition and memory to new perceptions.
Science focuses on being dedicated to truth and facts and religion/spirituality is dedicated to a different kind of truth…and to love. Unfortunately, peoples’ self-interests and assumptions sometimes override these focuses. What happens is that the assumptions and opinions that we hold begin behaving like computer programs within our minds. They take over against the best of intentions and produce their own intentions. Resulting from all of this, we have the misunderstandings of Truth that we can see in science, religion/spirituality, and in the socio-political culture in general today.
We cannot deny that the human ego has more of an influence on us than is healthy for our continued collective growth and transformation. What was once helpful for survival is now detrimental to our thriving. By consciously and intentionally changing how we think and what we focus on, we will be able to minimize that egoistic process of taking for absolute truth things that we do not know and ensure they fade away into the sands of time. Imagine how many wars would be evaded and how many lives would be saved if this were to happen. Imagine how much better the quality of life would be. A bright future for each or us and for us as a whole will be possible by having an open mind, which goes hand in hand with not allowing our egos to manipulate us in such a way that we are living and defending falsehoods. We are all interdependent on each other and creating a bright future for this world is something we all should have a hand in, not just a select few.
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