StoryWorth: Higher Power
Do you believe in a higher power?
Not really, no. At best I believe in a greater power, some kind of collective consciousness, or sustained zeitgeist. Mostly I’m deeply agnostic. I think that we do not have the perspective to understand existence as a whole. And I think that we are pattern-creating beings, so any pattern that we claim to perceive without hard data is suspect. We see pictures in the stars and clouds and can enjoy them and find meaning in them, but that meaning is intrinsic to ourselves, not an external reality.
That said, I have deep respect for the religious faith that sustains and nurtures many people. I tend to understand it as a metaphor for an underlying reality that we do not have the tools to comprehend directly. It makes sense to me that many people find the metaphors they were taught as children to be powerful and meaningful. I haven’t found one that gives me any sense of certainty, or that can be sustained on a universal scale.
The story I like best is The Egg, by Andrew Weir. In it a person discovers that they are every human being that has ever existed and that our world is a process of becoming. When we truly grasp that there is no “other,” that all human beings are ourselves, then we will attain a different level of awareness and transcend to a different level of existence. I don’t really believe that, but I see no downside to trying to behave as if it were true.
In the meantime, I don’t see that it really matters. Watson was shocked to discover that Sherlock Holmes doesn’t know that the Earth orbits the Sun and Holmes points out that he has probably known it at some point, but discarded it as information that makes no difference to his life. I do not think I would live my life differently if I believed in a divine spirit and since I don’t think we can ever truly know, I don’t spend a great deal of time focusing on it.
This entry was originally posted at https://lillibet.dreamwidth.org/1319277.html. You can comment either place! There are
comments over there now.
Not really, no. At best I believe in a greater power, some kind of collective consciousness, or sustained zeitgeist. Mostly I’m deeply agnostic. I think that we do not have the perspective to understand existence as a whole. And I think that we are pattern-creating beings, so any pattern that we claim to perceive without hard data is suspect. We see pictures in the stars and clouds and can enjoy them and find meaning in them, but that meaning is intrinsic to ourselves, not an external reality.
That said, I have deep respect for the religious faith that sustains and nurtures many people. I tend to understand it as a metaphor for an underlying reality that we do not have the tools to comprehend directly. It makes sense to me that many people find the metaphors they were taught as children to be powerful and meaningful. I haven’t found one that gives me any sense of certainty, or that can be sustained on a universal scale.
The story I like best is The Egg, by Andrew Weir. In it a person discovers that they are every human being that has ever existed and that our world is a process of becoming. When we truly grasp that there is no “other,” that all human beings are ourselves, then we will attain a different level of awareness and transcend to a different level of existence. I don’t really believe that, but I see no downside to trying to behave as if it were true.
In the meantime, I don’t see that it really matters. Watson was shocked to discover that Sherlock Holmes doesn’t know that the Earth orbits the Sun and Holmes points out that he has probably known it at some point, but discarded it as information that makes no difference to his life. I do not think I would live my life differently if I believed in a divine spirit and since I don’t think we can ever truly know, I don’t spend a great deal of time focusing on it.
This entry was originally posted at https://lillibet.dreamwidth.org/1319277.html. You can comment either place! There are
comments over there now.