The
world is a complex place. Our ability to survive and thrive depends
on our understanding of the parts of it we experience, as well as the
power we have to change it, because our understanding determines how
accurately we can predict the results of the actions we take. The
better our understanding, the more likely our actions will have the
desired results.
Understanding
is an interpretation of observations that identifies what the parts
of the world are, how those parts are related to each other, and how
they and their relationships tend to change or stay the same. Its
quality and usefulness is therefore highly dependent on the quality
and amount of our observations, and our ability to correctly
interpret those observations. Science is society's most successful
means of building quality understanding, in large part because it
uses strict rules of evidence which filter out observations that
cannot be verified.
Technology
has enabled a vast increase in the number and verifiability of
observations, while logic and mathematics have enabled us
to create and test interpretations of those observations that will
have maximum accuracy and reliability. It has also, as a byproduct,
enabled people to have more power, unfortunately without an
associated requirement for understanding its full impact beyond its
intended and very specific applications.
Alternative
approaches to science for building understanding, such as religions,
tend to depend heavily on hearsay, reported observations that cannot
be independently verified; and their interpretations cannot be
rigorously tested, if at all. That many people use the
interpretations that result from them is evidence that the
interpretations have enough quality to be useful in various
situations, typically ones where success in surviving and thriving is
not increased by having more quality.
Humanity
is now at a point where our impacts on the world require a high
quality of understanding to manage without extreme harm to us and
other species. Those with the most influence (power) must either
acquire that understanding, or reduce their power to a level they can
manage safely. To do so voluntarily, they must also value the others
they influence, and values are in large part a function of culture –
especially religion. If our values do not motivate us to mitigate
the harm we cause, and if we insist on holding onto power without
adequately understanding the complex interrelationships and
interactions that it can disrupt, then we will be entirely
responsible for our doom as a species.
