Overwhelmed by abstraction
It seems to me like there are some realizations that should change the meaning of .. whatever it is that you are concerned with and some that should not, and that learning to discriminate consciously in this matter is important. For example. I think that learning how our sense of smell works shouldn't diminish the experience of smelling something pleasant, like, well, I like the smell of orange juice (off the top of my head).
Its a question of validation, I guess. If you arrive at an old-timey western town and you realize that its all a facade, a movie set, and that all the storefronts are fake and there's no houses behind them, that's one thing. But if you learn that the houses behind them are made of wood, and how the wood is put together, and so on, that shouldn't make them less real. Yet somehow, essence is equated with mystery. If we learn a house is made of wood and nails, it is no longer necessary for its houseness to persist. It has been 'explained away' and houses just become possible arrangements for wood and nails when stuck together.
It is kind of interesting to think about though, that one of the things we have consistently discovered when we pulled back the veil of mystery about biology, chemistry, atoms, subatomic particles, quarks, strings, and so on, has been more and more empty space where seemingly solid essences once lived.
"Thirty spokes meet at a nave;
Because of the hole we may use the wheel.
Clay is moulded into a vessel;
Because of the hollow we may use the cup.
Walls are built around a hearth;
Because of the doors we may use the house.
Thus tools come from what exists,
But use from what does not. " - Tao Te Ching
Its a question of validation, I guess. If you arrive at an old-timey western town and you realize that its all a facade, a movie set, and that all the storefronts are fake and there's no houses behind them, that's one thing. But if you learn that the houses behind them are made of wood, and how the wood is put together, and so on, that shouldn't make them less real. Yet somehow, essence is equated with mystery. If we learn a house is made of wood and nails, it is no longer necessary for its houseness to persist. It has been 'explained away' and houses just become possible arrangements for wood and nails when stuck together.
It is kind of interesting to think about though, that one of the things we have consistently discovered when we pulled back the veil of mystery about biology, chemistry, atoms, subatomic particles, quarks, strings, and so on, has been more and more empty space where seemingly solid essences once lived.
"Thirty spokes meet at a nave;
Because of the hole we may use the wheel.
Clay is moulded into a vessel;
Because of the hollow we may use the cup.
Walls are built around a hearth;
Because of the doors we may use the house.
Thus tools come from what exists,
But use from what does not. " - Tao Te Ching