Science studies the physical universe: Why does it ignore the spiritual aspect?
I often hear doubts that science studies only the physical universe, forgetting about spiritual aspect of things – so science is just a machine of destruction, a slave to the needs of capital and commercialism. But is this really true?
Science doesn’t distinguish between matter and energy; it studies both equally. Science explains what physics cannot, doesn’t it?
Here are 5 definitions of science I have found on the internet:
Science comes from the Latin word “scientia” which means knowledge. So, when we look in the dictionary, it tells us that science is: knowledge of how to do something or know how to do something; a body of knowledge; the application or study of knowledge or facts in a particular field of inquiry or research; the skilled use of information or facts, especially to solve new problems or advance an abstract theory.
While searching, I found these main definitions of science to be remarkable:
Definition 1 – Science is an intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.
Definition 2 – As an organized body of knowledge, science in part relies on observation, that it acquires through various means, usually involving experimentation or replication. As a “human activity” it develops theories regarding the observable universe (scientific theory) to describe observations made in that universe by logical inferences from evidence.
Definition 3 – Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions, which we know as scientific theories.
Definition 4 – (The most interesting) – Science is a way to make sense out of things. From consciousness, humans experience spirituality, hearing and sight to dreams, rainbows, the sounds of wind and water rustling in the trees, and the orders given by our Mother Nature – to explain how all these things work.
Now, this simple question we must ask is, is Science Scientifically a Science? The answer is of course a resounding “YES!” Science does not depend on the mind or spirit; science cannot happen without them.
This means that people cannot do science – those who don’t have a human mind. People who live in their own private world called “spiritual world” are cut off from scientific knowledge and therefore from science itself.
Science points its finger at matter, pointing at its shape, color and movement. Matter is energy, matter is spirit – this is the connection between science and spirituality. Spirituality as a scientific fact would be an important new perspective on the world.
But what do these definitions really mean?
Does science really study everything? Is science really just a machine for producing more energy in search for more profit to satisfy people’s greed? Are scientists actually just mindless, unthinking and blind men who blindly follow their desires to have a pleasant life? Or what is the true definition of science.
The only definition I could comprehend is that science is a way to make sense of things. News reporters, scientists, investigators and other “scientists” are always gathering facts, evidence and information in order to get to the bottom of a particular situation.
Things science can not make sense out of:
Dreams – To understand dreams, all science does is describe what the subject is seeing and trying to create a story out of it. There’s no explanation, just description.
Emotions – Science can detect levels of hormones in the body to explain why one feels joyful or sad but not truly why one feels that way. Science can name what causes certain emotions but cannot truly explain it.
Consciousness – Science cannot explain what consciousness is, and it cannot explain where that “life” comes from in a newborn body.
Divinity – To truly understand Divinity, it would be necessary to find out what something is made of in order to create a model. When science says it cannot do this is because it hasn’t been able to find the right material, to grasp the real nature of that which has no matter.
Nothingness – Science can say that there was nothing before the creation of the Universe. But science simply can not explain that state of nothingness.
Time – Science can say that time exists and is constantly moving forward. But science doesn’t understand the nature of time, what it is and where it came from.
Creation – Science can say that the Big Bang created the Universe. It can also explain what energy did in the Big Bang at its earliest stages, but still hasn’t been able to create one single element out of nothingness.
Infinity – Science has never been able to reach an understanding of infinity. It’s a limitless concept, and science is just not there yet.
Soul – Scientists have come to identify human behavior with DNA code, and have accused spirit as being nothing more than energy in motion, but they have never been able to create a physical model of this “nothingness” that some people deny exists.
Miracles – Science has no explanation of miracles – it simply describes them as “unusual”. Natural laws should be able to explain everything in the world including miracles, but it hasn’t been able to do so yet – and probably never will be able to do so.
Why is science important?
Science not only helps us understand the world around us, and even ourselves, it also enables us to predict, understand, and control nature. At the same time, science has many uses in our daily lives. Our daily survival may very well depend on the modern technology that has been developed by scientists (such as agriculture and medicine). Thus, it is important that all of us learn about and respect science today.
However, most of us consider that respecting science is more of a necessity rather than an option, don’t we?
- Science should not be able to explain why we dream.
- Science cannot explain consciousness and emotions.
- Further, science can not perceive things beyond what our senses can.
- Science can not explain the extra dimensions that exist.
- Science can not explain why this universe is so finely tuned for life.
- Also, science should not be able to explain Divinity.
- Science can not explain Creation.
- And, science can not explain Infinity.
Science and Spirituality
It’s noteworthy that science has nothing to do with spirituality because scientists can’t find “Spirits” in any lab on Earth and science does not have a way of discovering what they are made of, or even if they really exist.
Contradictorily, “spiritual science” may as well be something that can only be studied by those who claim to have a “spiritual intelligence”. This makes it impossible for “scientistry” to study spirituality and thus making it an isolated field of knowledge separate from science and everything else.
So, science and spiritual science are like two opposite poles. And, both of which exist, but never to meet and have a party together.
Then, what exactly is science in its form and gist? Science is a body of knowledge that describes and predicts observed and inferred phenomena, using logical arguments and evidence. It aims to develop understanding based on empirical evidence rather than absolute truth. Science aims to answer only the questions that have been explicitly identified as legitimate.
Science is a systematic way of acquiring knowledge. It attempts to explain, or “make sense” of what is observed in the natural world. Then it uses this understanding to develop predictions that can be tested to see if they are correct. Science also aims to understand how nature works at all levels including atomic, subatomic, cellular, organelles and extra-cosmic levels, and all those that are perceivable by our senses.
Science as a Human Culture
We can say science is nothing more than one of many ‘human cultures’ – or a discipline – like art, music, literature, and so on. And, science is humanity’s attempt to understand what we are. We need to take science as something important because it is a way of looking at the world. It attempts to describe the world as completely as possible without any reference to or reliance on supernatural or mystical (i.e., extra-natural) entities or phenomena.
But when we encounter with piles of mysteries like consciousness, emotions, the human spirit, love, hate, time and space, we are forced to look beyond the realm of science. If science is our only approach to understanding the world, then we will become stuck in a world full of mysteries and conflicts.
Science will not be able to explain these phenomena. And humanity will forever be at war with itself over such things as good versus evil, life versus death, I versus others and so on. We need science to understand that there are other aspects of this world. And that require a different approach from science but still can be useful in understanding some aspects of ourselves.
Studying only the physical aspect of existence seems too less for expanding the human knowledge. Spirituality, which refers to a search for meaning and purpose, is not necessarily incompatible with science. Science looks at the physical world to understand it. Whereas, spirituality looks at the same world to understand our relationship with it.
Pseudoscience
Views that challenge common sense and logic have been given a label of pseudoscience by mainstream scientists. It may be true that some people have been using data in their work that are inaccurate or misleading; however, this does not mean that all pseudoscientific views are wrong.
Many people who conduct scientific experiments find themselves with very unusual results. So they assume that the cause of their results is flawed in some way, then find ways to fix it. There is no such thing as a harmful pseudoscientific view. For example, the ideas of phrenology are merely pseudoscientific solutions to explain the effects that unexplained phenomena have on a person’s mind. The exact cause of these effects is not yet known.
Some contemporary mathematicians and physicists have found themselves with very unusual results. Therefore, they assume that the cause of their results is flawed in some way, but this is not correct. The correct explanation is that there are extra dimensions beyond those that can be measured using our standard techniques. If we’re to understand these dimensions, then we need to look at alternative approaches such as parapsychology and quantum physics.
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There are many examples of scientific research which has led to completely incorrect conclusions. This is nothing new. The great mathematician and physicist, Sir Isaac Newton in the 17th century believed that light was made of tiny particles.
Only a few scientists at that time thought that light was a wave vibrating in some sort of ether. Among them, most notably were Dutch physicist and astronomer Christiaan Huygens.
In 1905, the wave nature of light was an established, incontrovertible fact. In the face of this universally accepted knowledge, Einstein proposed that light was not a continuous wave, but consisted of localized particles.
Neither Newton nor Einstein could prove their theories at the time they proposed them. It was because they had not yet discovered the evidence that ultimately led to their correct conclusions.
‘Quantum Science’ and Distortion of Established Realities
Quantum science is another field of science. Pseudoscientific views have plagued the quantum science more than any other field in modern times. Quantum physics states that there are some things in our world that cannot be explained through logic or rationality. Thus, we know these things as parapsychology phenomena, and we refer to the scientists who research them as parapsychologists.
The quantum theory has distorted the established realities of physics in many ways. However, this has not resulted in a complete rejection of the existing views. Instead, it has led to a complete restructuring of the established realities. For example, scientists accept both, the particle theory and the wave theory, as valid explanations in quantum physics. Likewise, before the development of the quantum theory, scientists accepted that atoms did not spontaneously decay; however, we have known this to be incorrect.
The quantum theory also exposed many things about our universe that scholars also considered supernatural or mystical (i.e., extra-natural). Since the quantum theory has been a very controversial study, it is important to understand why there is controversy over things like telepathy and psychic phenomena since they can be explained using quantum science.
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Moreover, quantum science has also caused a major shift in the views of many people concerning things like human nature and ethics. Quantum entanglement indicates towards a huge potential of the human mind, scope of consciousness and spirituality. There is a real possibility that there will be a paradigm shift in our approach to science.
Quantum science has restructured the existing realities of physics, but it has not caused scientists to abandon the field. It has only added to the body of established knowledge and led to a restructuring of the established realities. Quantum science did not start as a completely new discipline. Instead, it was integrated into existing disciplines like quantum physics. In fact, quantum theory combines logic and rationality with non-logic and irrationality.
Does science study the physical universe, without ignoring the spiritual aspect?
Now, it has almost become clear that science instinctively doesn’t, but needs to study the both aspects of the universe: physical as well as spiritual. It is obviously more than just being physical. The biggest breakthrough in science came during the course of history when science ventured into understanding the non-physical aspects of this world.
For example, although metaphysical science – which explores the non-physical aspects of reality – by its very nature cannot accurately measure or collect data using the five physical senses, it explores the true nature and behavior of the non-physical aspects of reality.
So… science has a lot to offer in understanding other aspects of this world.
Hopefully, as time goes by, we will include these non-physical aspects in our research so that we can be more confident about what to expect from the future.
If we can successfully include these other aspects of this world in our research, science will become much more advanced and powerful than ever before.
