Why we believe
2007-04-30 06:10:50
<p><img src=""http://exigraff.com/blog/wp-content/old_images/409.jpg"" /></p> <p>If you look at life long enough, one thing more or less becomes completely clear: something is not right. And in fact, something is quite wrong. (For those of you who caught that allusion, more power to you. And yes, there are support groups.)</p>
<p>Just <em>look</em> at it. People are born, live, and die. There are two ways to view this: each person is a miracle of life, or, look – they keep reproducing. The temptation to become completely cynical is, well, tempting. And if all you’re looking at is the planet Earth, then yes, cynicism is what any thinking person is probably going to end up with.</p>
<p>Which brings me to the subject of this particular entry. Why we believe. I’m going to bring up The Matrix again (“again”, yes, if you’ve been here a while) – remember the scene where the Architect is disseminating Neo as a human? “Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion.”</p>
<p>People hope. Why on <em>earth</em>?</p>
<p>Or okay, let’s start here. Hope. The desire to see something better in the future. This is weird, right, considering the finality and inevitability of death. People live and die, largely without making a scratch on the surface. Those who aspire to <em>change the world</em> might have some effect, but in the scheme of human history and all foreseeable future, it’s negligible. You’re quite literally one in a million.</p>
<p>So why hope? Why want to expect something better for <em>you</em>, insignificant and ultimately worthless you?</p>
<p>Because you don’t believe you’re worthless. Or don’t want to believe it, I suppose.</p>
<p>And this is why we believe. Believe in God, believe in the power of good, believe in something <em>better</em>, what have you. Because if life is all we have, we don’t matter. And we know it. On some level, we know it. <em>Looking</em> at life as it is, it’s largely futile. Get an education, a good job, provide for the kids. And then they do it over again. To what end? If there’s nothing to believe in, then nothing. That’s it – for all practical purposes, you’re a Walmart paperclip. Do something passive for while, then when your job is done, you’re gone. And there are always more like you.</p>
<p>A friend of mine made the comment that illusions are kind of necessary for sanity. I think he’s right, to the extent that if we don’t believe anything beyond the immediately concrete, our ability to function is out. And this point is of particular importance – if we can’t function without believing something intangible, what does that say? Is it an inherent flaw, or is it by… well, design?</p>
<p>And <em>this</em> gets into the debate about the existence of God. On this, I’m only going to say that it’s largely impossible to prove. Christianity and atheism are both nuts. Christians can’t prove God exists; atheists can’t prove He doesn’t. The finite cannot grapple with the theoretically infinite.</p>
<p>But I suppose that’s what it comes down to, isn’t it? The theoretically infinite. It’s an intangible, and is therefore entirely necessary. If there wasn’t something more, if this is all we’ve got, then screw life.</p>
<p>This is why we believe.</p>Last updated
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