Another Look At Science And Scholarship

MON., AUG. 14, 1995, 5:40 AM
FARM, STUDY

It is apparent that again you have more than enough material for a summer season Letter. Yet when the theme has been identified and decided upon I usually have just a bit more to say, even when some of it shall be reiteration.

So… how do I feel about science? I created the earth in a way that could be studied, systematically and with some objectivity. I created humans with a brain that has a “side” that encourages systematic thinking, with the recognition of facts and the putting together of these into knowledge. Yes, science is a way of knowing that I certainly have allowed… a way that is almost unique to this earth scene.

One premise of science is that knowledge is “built” from small, careful experiments and observations. It is, in effect, that the whole is the sum of its parts. Yet even capable (and, particularly, brilliant) scientists know that understandings also come in intuitive “leaps” as well as in painstaking accumulations. In one sense (as you would suspect) scientific knowledge is limitless, for there are ever new ways to study phenomena, and even ever new things to study. In another sense, it is limited… to what can be measured, in some way. And much of important reality just can’t be quantified.

I have no objection to the human, humans and even cultures becoming the subjects of scientific study. I am bothered, and also amused by findings that are publicized as ultimate reality and by assertions that this way of knowing is the best, even the only legitimate way.

You know that I like contrasts, that I create or allow or that come out of some combination thereof. Quantifiable, verifiable facts are contributions to knowing. Revelations from Holy Scripture, from spirits as guides, and from Me, directly are contrasting forms of knowledge. Intuition is some sort of middle ground, wherein another part of the brain creates understanding out of… some combination.

In some earlier Teachings I have appeared to be against scholarship, which can be scientific, semi-scientific, to non-scientific. My interest is rarely in what any scholar produces, but mostly in what his motives are, as well as the “condition” of her spirit. Yes, that is a bit too strong. I value some knowledge more than others, and I value some products more than others. What I value most is the spirit-filled scholar who produces evidence and interpretation of that evidence which can be truly helpful in human life… or produces insights which can touch the spirits of at least some others. (I’ll let you consider the combinations that are less pleasing to Me.)

I liked the rather primitive scholarship you “enacted” yesterday in preparing for this upcoming Letter. You worked from titles, recognizing that there are quotes included in teachings whose titles are not helpful… and that there is no practical way for you to access these. (Someone else may do this, in some other, later generation.) You then read from the hand-written pages and both selected and rejected. Now comes technology and the copy machine that will make the quotes you finally select usable in an efficient way to constitute the Letter in its prescribed length. You suspect that there are more efficient ways to do this, but this seems best for you. It will be interesting to see how technological you become as you move into retirement.)