by Brian Turner
February 4, 2010
What can be believed? What can be known? Does it all matter? Much can be justifiably believed – birds are likely to fly south in the autumn. Very much less can be known - the future is notoriously unpredictable, the past, often seen though clouds of misinformation and prejudice, is what we choose to make of it. It all matters because we cannot hope to understand the present without being able to observe clearly what is happening. The charts that we use to navigate must be as accurate as possible if we are to sustain any hope for a pleasant, just and creative future. Some people see more clearly than others and, hopefully, we will have the wisdom to listen to them.
Einstein pointed out that he could only see far by standing on the shoulders of others. Visionaries and prophets, when well informed and of generous disposition, can be our rightful guides. Collectively, we help to choose which leaders to follow; individually, things get more complicated. We don’t all share the same beliefs – or, seen another way, believe in the same knowledge. Compromise and the ability to listen are always useful tools.
I believe that humankind – and most other life on earth - faces some unpleasant adjustments. Overpopulation, resource depletion, climate change and a continuing imbalance in access to goods and services are real threats.
I don’t know what will happen, but I believe that most people are not widely enough informed (… or frightened enough) to make unpleasant adjustments. This could change. Belief in such a change sustains my more positive thoughts on the lives to be lead by future generations. In the lives of my children and their friends I can see evidence of such change. Food choices, transportation and work preferences are signs of productive thinking for the next century. Yukio Mishima, the Japanese activist, pointed out:
“ One may choose a course of action – but one may not always choose the time. The moment of decision looms in the distance – and then overtakes you. “ Today the moment of decision looms uncomfortably close.
The savageries made possible by science – and made possible by religious belief – have been with us for a long time and are certain to appear on the evening news. Both scientific knowledge and spiritual belief will be needed for a better world. Scientific knowledge can tell us what to do.
Spiritual beliefs can give us both the generosity and the courage to do it. In the future we are likely to eat less, travel less and build less - at least in the developed countries- than we have grown accustomed to. Many people won’t like this change and commercial advertising will do its very best to distract them. They are likely, I believe, to be overtaken by events. As this happens, sustaining hope may increasingly rely upon beliefs and spiritual resources.
For some, this may require a strict adherence to some religious doctrine. For others it won’t. Hopefully, however, many of us will get the strength to do whatever must be done. Knowledge, belief and hope seem, in some subtle way, to be connected.
Some of this, I know. Some I believe. And some I just feel, like the scent of summer rain on a dry day. Damian Gorman, writer and backpacker, writes that spiritual practices: “ … remind us to be kind, in the hope that the sun will shine and the rain will come. “
There are some aspects of reality that may, forever, be beyond our reach. The British biologist J.B.S. Haldane famously commented that:
“ The universe is not only queerer than we imagine; it is queerer than we can imagine “. That’s O.K. by me. Family, friends and the spectacles provided by nature, books and music are plenty to keep me entertained – and hopeful. To know everything is not possible. To believe everything is absurd. I strongly suspect that getting things right, however, will require all the tools we can find - and I have no urge to throw tools away before I know where we are going. Florida Scott-Maxwell wrote, in her autobiography, “…love, at any age, takes everything you’ve got “. If this sounds like a plea for love, hope and charity (… or for faith, hope and charity) - good! That is what I had in mind when I started writing.