PREPARING THE MIND TO BELIEVE IN THE IMPOSSIBLE

In the deap sea, far beyond the depths that even light from the sun can penetrate, exist creatures without eyes. They exist in a world where you do not “see” things. If these creatures had a language, the word “see” would not exist at all because it is not a concept that they would have any ability at all to grasp. So how do they perceive the world around them? Well they use what they have. They don’t “wish” they had eyes…because first, someone would have to explain to them what eyes were. And to explain that, you’d first have to (try to) explain what “sight” is. What it means to actually see something. These creatures would probably be pretty confused. They wouldn’t have any idea what you’re talking about, and they’d probably end up getting pretty bored/annoyed and say, “There’s no proof that such a thing exists, as far as I can tell.”

But obviously, we know better.

So, we know about the sense of sight. We know that sight is something that can be used to perceive the world around us, and the tools necessary in order to HAVE sight are something we call Eyes.

Let’s pretend that there is a TRUE 6th sense. Let’s call it the sense of “gnoosh” (just a word I made up). Gnoosh is something that can be used to perceive the world around us. And let’s say that the tools necessary to HAVE gnoosh is something called a “gnoosher”. So, obviously, you don’t have a gnoosher, so you don’t have gnoosh. But suppose somebody DID have a gnoosher, and they were trying to explain to you what gnooshing was…? How would they describe it in terms you can understand? Much like our inability to describe to creatures of the deep sea what it means to see something.

The problem, of course, is that we could prove to a deep sea creature that what we say is true. We could point out that we can judge distance without having to actually move that distance. We could have 3 sea creatures line up in a row, and point out which was on the left, center, and right of the group. So many tests could be conducted. So many, in fact, that I think at some point the sea creatures would have no CHOICE but to admit that although they are unable to understand it, such a thing as sight DOES exist. The ones who are unwilling to admit it, you would just understand them to be ignorant or unwilling to accept what is obviously true.

Yet another problem…we don’t know how to communicate with creatures of the deep sea. In order to explain to them the concept of sight, you’d first have to teach them your language. In order to teach them our language, you would have to give them the capacity to understand spoken language. In order to give them that understanding, you would have to alter their brain…give them the necessary components to form THOSE kinds of thoughts. They’d be trying to communicate with us too. Using things like sonar and pheromones. And of course, we wouldn’t be able to make any sense of it…because we don’t communicate that way (not consciously anyway).

So, now we’re really getting to the heart of the problem, aren’t we? How can we even worry about the problem of deep sea creatures not understanding the concept of sight until we solve the problem of us and them being able to communicate? We know we’re right, but can we BLAME them for being ignorant?

Can you imagine getting into an argument with an angler fish about the existence of the sense of sight? How stupid would it be to argue with an animal of the deep sea that sight DOES exist…when the creature doesn’t even know what you’re saying, or even that you’re “saying” anything at all. My bet is that you’d look pretty silly.

So what’s the point already? Well, the point I’m making is that if you’re going to argue about something, sometimes it is necessary to PREPARE the person with which you are arguing with the necessary information and cognitive skills to take part in the conversation.

An example: If you want to convince somebody that there is a God, you first need to prepare that person by giving them the CAPACITY to believe in such a thing. How do you do that? The best way would probably be classical conditioning. I suppose you’d have to start at childhood…right when a person is old enough to understand spoken words. You could tell the child that somewhere in the world there exists this incredibly generous and happy old man who lives in a fantastical winter wonderland where he employs magical elves who make everything you could ever want. Just believe this is true, wish for whatever you want, and he’ll have one of his magic elves make it especially for you…and he’ll even hand deliver it.

Repeat this year after year, as necessary. Almost every child falls for this. Why wouldn’t they? All you have to do is believe in this guy, and you get whatever you want. Pretty sweet deal. The funny thing is…the gifts themselves are reinforcement. If another child says, “proove there is a Santa Clause”, you could reply, “This present is my proof. It even says ‘from Santa’ on it.” Honestly…that’s fairly rock-solid evidence, is it not? But of course, the evidence had been planted, hadn’t it? Santa was set up. And by the time the child realizes this, it’s too late. Their mind has been perfectly conditioned to believe in something that simply isn’t true without any desire to question the validity of what they’re told. Just believe it, and good things will happen.

Can you imagine how much poison a mind like that could soak up? How many things a mind like that has the ability to believe…without any regard to reality. And then we send these minds through the “process” of public schools. Basically programming them to perform their future tasks. Which is what? To perpetuate this? This life that we’ve created for ourselves?

Do you think that things work like this on accident?

Did I just equate God to Santa Clause?

Well I’m definitely not the first one. And we certainly have more evidence of Santa Clause. I have personally seen his signature, as well as gifts that my Mother assured me we could not afford, and an empty plate that used to have cookies on it. Despite all of that, I know Santa isn’t real.

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Okay, so that was a fun mental journey, was it not?

How about this:

Deep-sea explorers have found “lakes” on the ocean floor. Pools of liquid more dense than water that form yet another ocean. Compared to the consistency of this pools of liquid, water feels like air. Creatures live in this liquid and it changes how biologists understand what “life” is made of.*

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The point I’m making here is that we learn stuff ALL THE TIME. We are constantly learning that we were wrong about something in the past and now we know better (Example: We now know that Pluto isn’t “technically” a planet by our definition of the word).

We should really guard against being like the deep sea creatures. There are things that we are simply incapable of understanding…but that doesn’t mean we should close our eyes to evidence of those things. If somebody who has a gnoosher proves to me through a series of tests that gnooshing is real, in terms that I (not having a gnoosher) can understand (within the realm of touching, tasting, seeing, hearing, and smelling), then surely I would have to admit that they’re right…right?

And that’s really what we’re doing, as human beings. There is this insanely chaotic universe around us that is impossible to understand. We’re taking what we are able to perceive through our senses and ability to think, and creating a reality based on that information. What else can we do? We know that there are things that we don’t understand. We don’t have to understand them…but we can’t deny that they’re there when there is substantial evidence (for instance: I have no clue how radio waves work…but my radio works, so I assume that the radio waves are there…despite my ability to perceive them [maybe if I had a gnoosher?]).

If you think about it, what reason would a deep sea creature have for not believing what we’re saying is true when there is a ton of evidence supporting it? Any reason they could come up with, we would just dismiss as irrelevant because we KNOW we’re right. Sight DOES exist. Those deep sea creatures are just stupid.

Perhaps that was mean. I apologize.

Are you a deep sea creature?