Questions that point to the transcendent
Why is there a universe when there could just as well be nothing?
Why the physical laws of the universe are those which they are?
Why does consciousness, that most incredible yet most useless (from a materialistic conception of reality) of miracles, exist?
Why are we capable of experiencing such emotional richness and depth as we do? What for?
Why do we have a need for art, which, again, is one hundred percent useless?
Why do we have what we call existential needs?
Why do we ask ourselves all these questions?
I don't know about you, but these questions make me "suspicious", they bring my attention right into the transcendent. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they are proof of God's existence or anything like that. That would be too easy. But then it's also too easy to say that feelings, art, existential concerns and consciousness are simply a product of natural selection or that it's silly to wonder why the universe exists or why the physical laws are these and not any others. These questions are legitimate, they are big, and they haven't been answered. Why would anyone chose to brush them aside? In most cases probably out of faith in scientific materialism. (I looked "scientific materialism" up in Wikipedia, as you do, and it says that "[t]he term is usually only used by critics of the scientific discipline, such as the proponents of intelligent design". Just for the record, in my not so humble opinion the intelligent design crowd are for the most part a bunch of fruitcakes, and I don't criticise "the scientific discipline", but the belief some people hold that science can provide all the answers or that that which cannot be studied through science is not ultimately real.)
As I was saying, these questions point to the transcendent. By that I mean that when I consider, for instance, the existence of the universe (as opposed to its conceivable non-existence) I can only shut up and contemplate. It's not just that I don't have an answer for the question of why the universe exists. It's that there probably isn't one! But that only increases my sense of awe, for the question won't go away. It is as real and relevant as it can be, and yet it has no answer! I dwell on the question, contemplating the inapprehensible enormity and complexity of the universe, and that brings about a sense of wonder and mystery, a heightened awareness of myself and the world. It opens up a peaceful yet excited inner space where not having an answer doesn't feel like a problem. What do I do with all that? Enjoy it, to begin with. And then I don't know; I'm still trying to figure it out. Why does this happen? Why does this, in principle, philosophical question send shivers down my spine? Is it because it gives me hope in the existence of God? Perhaps, but that's not what it feels like. It's more like being hurled into the transcendent, the numinous, the you know what I'm talking about, that knowing something without knowing exactly what it is that you know. You follow me?
Another one of my favourite questions for pondering and making my mind go into "wow mode" (a synonym for contemplation) is consciousness. Its very existence is regarded by intelligent people as the most enigmatic question facing science and philosophy. No one has yet produced a theory that provides any substantial insight into the nature of consciousness. It is not only unexplained, but, from the materialist point of view assumed by science, unnecessary: it is not thought to play any causal role in the physical universe (a position with which I disagree, but I'll leave that for another post). Unexplained, perhaps unexplainable, unnecessary, and yet it is the most fundamental fact about our existence, our most treasured possession. What ... is ... going ... on?
Next in the list are art and beauty. You could argue that creativity has evolved because it is biologically adaptive, and that art is just creativity gone mad and self-conscious, perhaps combined with the need for recognition, which could also have an adaptive purpose. That sounds pretty reasonable. But what about the appreciation of art and natural beauty? What's adaptive about a song making you shiver or some landscape taking your breath away? Is that just a useless by-product of biological evolution, "a misfiring of Darwinian behaviour"?1 Well, maybe it is, but you'll have to excuse me if I find the idea a bit far-fetched.
Apart from having some contemplative fun, there are other things I can do about these questions: investigate, speculate, despair, debate, meditate, swing back and forth between scepticism and mysticism, go to India (where one feels either closer to the truth or more deluded than anywhere else), have some chilli pickle, write on this blog, ... At any rate, what I cannot do is ignore them. What do you do about them?
________________1. Francis Collins ironically paraphrasing Richard Dawkins in a debate on Science and Religion
