There’s been quite a drive to reduce human beings to purposeless, temporary clusters of molecules. I don’t buy into it. For me, to understand what it is to be human involves taking on board consciousness, an inescapable subjective experience of a self, the interconnectedness of a person with others and with the rest of the universe in which we exist, and, not least, through the development of symbol manipulation and language development, a constant bent towards storytelling and seeking meaning in every day existence. (Cripes! That was quite a sentence, and, believe me, I had to stop myself there…..I could see that sentence spilling over into an entire page…)
The NY Times recently published a piece, “In Defense of Superstition“, about Matthew Hutson’s “The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking”. This is one of those things which makes you wonder about the nature of reality. I don’t think reality can be reduced to its physical, material elements. There’s a lot about reality which emerges from the fact we live as conscious beings in an inextricably interconnected universe. From this perspective, what are we to make of magic, and magical thinking?
The article cites research showing that golfers told the golf ball they are to play with is a lucky ball are 35% more likely to sink the putt, and that people can improve their memory performance when in possession of a lucky charm. This doesn’t surprise me. What you believe, and what you experience emotionally and subconsciously significantly influences your behaviour and your performance.
Do you remember a movie entitle, “The Cooler“? I think it was William H Macy as an unlucky charm, employed by a casino boss to stand next to people on a winning streak, so they’d start to lose. When he falls in love, his ability to transmit bad luck disappears….fascinating movie.
We co-create our reality with the world we live in, and most of that creation doesn’t come from the “thinking” part of our brain!
The article sums up
But without it, the existential angst of realizing we’re just impermanent clusters of molecules with no ultimate purpose would overwhelm us. So to believe in magic — as, on some deep level, we all do — does not make you stupid, ignorant or crazy. It makes you human
I agree with the last two sentences, but I don’t agree with the assumption that we are “just impermanent clusters of molecules with no ultimate purpose”. Do you?
Counsciousness and awareness of our integral part in the environment is part of the magic of life. The part I take issue with is negating the miracle of the molecules and the neuroscience of it all…….take autism….a condition with a lack of perceived awareness, on a continuum, of our surroundings, our internal integration, and an inability to experience the co-creation of our reality……that is all about neural and molecular integration….it’s molecules, and it’s magic. Make no mistake about it. They are not mutually exclusive, but are integral to the entire cosmic experience…..
I agree Wendy, its a delusional duality
Since I was young I’ve had a love of both science and magic/spirituality, and have never seen them as being mutually exclusive. Just because science can identify the parts or molecules of life doesn’t mean we understand the interactions or integration of the constituents of life. My suspicion is that in time to come science will discover more and more mysteries or magic in what seems like a handful of indeterminate molecules.
Karen, I agree with you and also have had a love of science and magical parts of life. They are not mutually exclusive in my world-view……molecules themselves are magical…..it is their relationships with each other, their numbers and in relation to protons, etc., that determines what something is! It’s magic and totally amazing…….
I feel, we precisely create our world from the thinking part of your brain. The slipup is, we are rarely aware of our thoughts and their creating power. To become aware of your thinking and use it’s creative power consciously, that’s real magic.