Can intellect evaluate everything? Is science the ultimate knowledge?

 

Can intellect evaluate everything? Is science the ultimate knowledge?

What is intellect or intellectual? Why do we need to seek scientific justifications for religious beliefs or use religious beliefs to perceive science?

Some quotes carry the best filters to pass any topics through them. More so, when abstract concepts are being discussed and add further fuzziness views and opinions from religion are also used. 

Swami Chinmayananda,"The spirit of Advaita is not to keep away from anything, but to keep in tune with everything."

 William James, “In the end nothing less than the whole of everything can be the truth of anything at all”.

 “I have approximate answers and possible beliefs in different degrees of certainty about different things, but I’m not absolutely sure of anything"- Richard Feynman.

 Voltaire said, “Four thousand volumes of metaphysics will not teach us what the soul is”.

"We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles.  Meantime within man is the soul of the whole: the wise silence, the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related, the eternal ONE.  And this deep power in which we exist and whose beatitude is all accessible to us, is not only self-sufficing and perfect in every hour, but the act of seeing and the thing seen, the seer and the spectacle, the subject and the object, are one.  We see the world piece by piece, as the sun, the moon, the animal, the tree; but the whole, of which these are shining parts, is the soul."Excerpt from The Over-Soul, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, first published in 1841.

“Study the assumptions behind your actions. Then study the assumptions behind your assumptions.” 
― Idries Shah, Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way

“For in spite of language, in spite of intelligence and intuition and sympathy, one can never really communicate anything to anybody [I may add only through intellectual analysis/verbal communication].”― Aldous Huxley

Sometimes enough materials, loads and loads, will help one to get academically confused, if not clarified;

The ideology freaks resort to arriving at conclusions based on contrived and convoluted concepts justifying them with farfetched data, irrelevant surveys and attention grabbing statements. 

Human life, after all, is a very short journey in the ocean of totality of LIFE. 

Identities of all hues while they enable creating social groups at the same time enfeeble options for universal acceptance.

Writers, when they slide on the side of reason are 360 degree stroke makers, they  are able to seek and to see numerous possibilities that exist between, beneath and beyond ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ which ordinary mortals may not that easily  grab and give a name or label and in addition writers are not averse to churn by throwing those possibilities in the cauldron which may contain from several sources all sorts of thoughts, information and /or knowledge of /in various domains, intellect, conscious awareness, perception, tools of perception, logic, reason, evaluations, purpose of evaluations, tools of evaluations, understanding and application of understanding, social values, social interactions, individual and/or collective emotions/feelings, psychology, cultural contexts, ideological identities which influence that very thought process, imaginations, dreams, fantasies, scientifically established facts, intelligent questioning, attitudes, willingness and ability to understand and solve problems, bio-chemical components of human beings and /or some other species as well, application of  highest physical laws etc.

So, when we try to define or decipher everything purely intellectually we presume our own limited intellectual compass and assume the intellect is superior enough to evaluate everything as per its own terms and conditions.

What is intellect or intellectual?

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Reality in fact involves  shifting priorities, drifting value systems, jilting relationships, wilting spirits seek only befitting systems and swift solutions and not suffocating taboos and traditions, rituals devoid of rational, sermons of socio-morals of ancient times which may enthuse automatic cognitive operations through appealing nicely worded socially applauded hyper philosophizing thoughts and opinions[passing of as collective wisdom] but will get exposed at the altar of existential anxieties which may expose how far removed they are from any contextual relevance.

Evolution, metamorphosis, change are the three important and inevitable dimensions of time.

Love and religion are relating, reconnecting and reuniting with real involvement 'how we relate' with others and by extension with higher spirits. Religion is derived from the two Latin words “re” and “ligare” which means “to reconnect”. We try to reconnect our feelings, emotions, expectations in joy with someone else known to us [which is called love] or some other unknown source [which is called religion]. Love etymologically refers to the manifestations like the Germanic word leubh- "to care, desire, and love" (cf. Latin lubet, later libet "pleases; “Sanskrit lubhyati "desires." So, the reality of religion and love is unity of human spirits, senses and sanity. Love and  Religion are positive manifestations integrating human  reasons, responses, reactions, reciprocations and reuniting and creating  synergy synthesis and synderesis ultimately.

Scriptures, scientific discoveries and inventions, philosophical explanations, great thoughts, ideas, actions, events, works of art, culture, and traditions are all some of the revelations popping out of as parts of the evolutionary process of human understanding of life. But we must be aware that they are neither the whole of life nor can anyone well versed in any of these aspects claim to be possessing the keys to understand the whole of life nor are they even answers to all aspects of life that we know of. Life is lived from moment to moment.

Religion is understood better by synthesis than by analysis. Religions grow better by syncretism than by antagonism. 

The beauty of life consists in the unknowns and the unending searches and researches –the unending process of evolutionary trends in everything.

Growing up and growing out of certain things are natural process of evolutionary metamorphosis both biologically and psychologically.

Life is functionally a dynamic energy; visually a multi-faceted splendor; in reality a marvelous mystery which unfolds itself through each and every one of us at every moment. Therefore, life cannot be either generalized in any manner or simplified into any predefined categories. 

Life continues to evolve in its dynamic energy every moment and constantly throws up challenges in varying degrees and intensities, in different dimensions and at unexpected intervals. Wisdom is to live in the present context and to practice certain time tested values which have relevance in present context but with global perspective to bequeath a livable planet, a lovable society with lovely infrastructures and improved living conditions. Scott Atran, a respected Anthropologist called Religion as “belief in hope beyond reason”.

 

In evolutionary biology we find that all creations have shed the unnecessary parts or shrunk them for better survival; in evolutionary sociology too human race has shed too many models of social groups and narrowed down on a few that would be easier for global interaction; in languages too, from a few thousands languages that existed humanity has reduced the number to just a few hundred languages for easy communication leading to at least better verbal understanding.

 Life is never fulfilled with unfulfilled relationships within the family, with others in the society, with the environment, with the many sciences, subjects, systems that we come across which are useful to us, used by us or we are used by them and so on. So, the quality of life is the manifestation of the quality of the inter play of these various relationships.

 Everything has its relevance and appeal to different souls at various levels.

 That's why we cannot deny or defy the importance of anything or anyone.

 So, over simplifications or sweeping generalizations must be avoided. 

“Across planes of consciousness, we have to live with the paradox that opposite things can be simultaneously true.” ― Ram Dass. 

We cannot analyse anything and everything through ideological fixations and subject them as well purely to satisfy socio- political justifications and surreptitiously insert undeserving persons as intellectuals. 

We must also know that everything has its own inherent attributes, intrinsic values, internal mechanism and logic for its existence besides, beyond, exclusive of and unmindful of human intellectual justifications, acceptance, acknowledgement, social approvals, political support  and therefore , it is purely absurd to extrapolate anything with specific ideological fixations. 

A whole gamut of things and factors that go on to develop an intellect, many more to define one and a lot to acquire that label which enable to deliver the following real universal wisdom. 

Real universal wisdom in my humble opinion may be like this whether sanctioned or sanctified by either social mores or religious morality.

Wisdom is the work shop where works of evolutionary trends and experiences of everyone in it emerge to express wisely the essence of everything to enlighten everyone; 

A wisdom which prioritizes living in the present context and along with practicing certain time tested values which have relevance in present context but with global perspective to bequeath a liveable planet, a lovable society with lovely infrastructures and improved living conditions; 

A wisdom that evaluates everything and everyone with contextual relevance and based on the inherent attributes or merits of what or who is being evaluated without extrapolating any  presumptions, opinions, judgments, perceptions, expectations, ideologies, doctrines, identity based ideology and so on;

A wisdom which is willing to make minor adjustments, small compromises, spontaneous cooperation to create compatible and conducive atmosphere with humility devoid of any egocentric pride;

A wisdom with the realization and a perspective that must be aware that life is a constant process of learning of the multiple dimensions of many things and the various dynamics of those dimensions involving the constant interaction and interrelationship with everyone and everything.

A wisdom that is willing to accommodate multiple methods or means of life with some overall tolerant attitude embedded on humanitarian concerns towards all human life and environmental or natural concern towards all other species.

A wisdom that gets its clarity of understanding through a churning process that takes into consideration several aspects from the practical to the philosophical to the all fantasies of the mind.

Human knowledge even with all the advantages of technological advancements enabled accessibility and availability hubris, still navigates in the orbit of finiteness. 

Whatever they be and however well packaged they are be they surveys,  statistics,  spread sheets all are meaningful abstractions and presentations of multiple facets and factors like randomness, measurable patterns, easily understandable classifications, blue prints or outlines or guide lines projecting or superimposing the trajectory of trends and so on, of real events, activities, actionable remedial measures of  PEOPLE who are involved or impacted by or responsible for such events or activities and circumstances which went on to create those factors or facets. 

 “Scientists use whichever methods help them understand the world: drudge like tabulation of data, experimental derring-do, flights of theoretical fancy, elegant mathematical modelling, kludge computer simulation, sweeping verbal narrative" –Karl  popper. 

 "All the methods are pressed into the service of two ideals, and it is these ideals that advocates of science want to export to the rest of intellectual life. The first is that the world is 'Intelligible'. The phenomena we experience may be explained by the principles that are deeper than the phenomena themselves." “The second ideal is that we must allow the world to tell us whether our ideas about it are correct, i.e. consistency with empirical evidence".

Vulnerabilities are unavoidable but leaving them unobserved, unattended and unaddressed is bad.

 "I was at the age when one felt like one needed to read everything, which prevented one from making contemplative stops"- Taleb.  

This happens to most of us.  

In a way it is good initially more the merrier.  Then we end up getting lost with excess of fuzziness than real assimilation. 

The INSTINCT/IMPULSE to filter and be selective come with prejudices and biases to NARROWING DOWN on only a few things. However, the ABILITY to do so come with enhanced matured way to choose and decide and end up CONSOLIDATING our radius of receptivity. 

Sometimes, many other factors like time constraints, lack of resources too limit our options. 

I cannot resist quoting my favorite author here. 

“The ability to choose an action that best satisfies conflicting goals is not an add-on to intelligence that engineers might slap themselves in the forehead for forgetting to install! It IS intelligence"- Steven Pinker 

“Understanding does not obey Moore's Law: knowledge is acquired by formulating explanations and testing them against reality, not by running an algorithm faster and faster. Devouring the information in the Internet will not confer omniscience either: big data is still finite data, and the universe of knowledge is infinite" - Steven Pinker. He also writes, “if narratives without statistics are blind, statistics without narratives are empty".  

Summing up the whole thing I would like to add that life is injected into the spread sheets only when one SYNERGIZES them with underlying HUMANITARIAN WELFARE and long term ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT based on RATIONAL OUTLOOK and SCIENTIFIC APPROACH with CONTEXTUAL RELEVANCE and ensuring not to hurt the SENTIMENTS and VALUE THE SOCIO-CULTURAL SENSITIVITIES of the people involved. 

Surveys,  statistics,  spread sheets are meaningful abstractions and presentations of multiple facets and factors like randomness, measurable patterns, trajectory of trends and so on of real events, activities, actionable remedial measures of people who are involved or impacted by or responsible for such events or activities and circumstances which went on to create those factors or facets. 

Life is injected into the spread sheets only when one synergizes with underlying human and environmental factors.

“Everything changes as you move through three stages of awareness:

first, that beliefs are the result of conditions;

second, that beliefs are the cause of conditions;
and third, that beliefs are themselves conditions.”― Eric Micha'el Leventhal

 “All of us have our own inner fears, beliefs, opinions. These inner assumptions rule and govern our lives. A suggestion has no power in and of itself. Its power arises from the fact that you accept it mentally.”― Joseph Murphy, the Power of Your Subconscious Mind

 

“We must realize that the subconscious mind is the law of action and always expresses what the conscious mind has impressed on it. What we regularly entertain in our mind creates a conception of self. What we conceive ourselves to be, we become.” Grace Speare.