We consider our society and teachings to be enlightened, however, it would be wise to consider history. There is no society in history that got it right. The Greek philosophers, as smart as they were, were not correct about the Universe. The Romans didn't get religion or politics right. The Norse gods weren't real. The Chinese didn't get biology right. The Arabs didn't get math right, though we still are stuck with their system. In fact, there is no society anywhere on Earth in any time period that was right on in any field of knowledge. Yet, we consider that the teachings of our society today are correct, that we have true knowledge and understanding. In this thought we are standing on a very shaky foundation; we must consider that it is unlikely that we have anything right.
In cancer treatment, a thousand years from now people will be saying, "Can you believe how barbaric they were to use radiation, surgery, and chemotherapy to treat cancer? I'm sure glad I don't live in that time!" We now have a multitude of treatments that don't work, all of them are barbaric: cut, poison, burn -- just as barbaric as the medieval treatments for scurvy, kwashiorkor, beriberi, and all the diseases we cure now with a simple pill, shot, or diet change.
In physics we teach that space is a vacuum, and at the same time say that all nature abhors a vacuum. We think in oxymorons, that light is both a wave and a particle. We ignore those things that are right in front of us because we haven't yet learned how to see them. We don't understand gravity or other forms of energy. We're stuck using trash forms of energy -- heat, random radiation, and electricity running through wires. We don't even understand the basic principles of light. In a thousand years scientists will joke about how ignorant they were in the 21st century. "They used to think that light traveled by particles through a vacuum? Ha Ha, that's funny!"
In biology we will be the laughing stocks of some future society for believing that everything is random. Our god of random chance will be replaced by intelligent beings with choice. The incredible diversity in life will be understood to be planned by decision. They will wonder how we could be so ignorant as to think that stupidity reigns supreme and there is no choice or intelligence in life -- it's very essence!
In mathematics we will be thought of as completely ignorant of multi-dimensional math. We think we are so smart that we can add 1+1, using a single dimension to represent a multi-dimensional Universe. Future generations will be amazed that we were even able to create such amazing things as a computer with such primitive math skills. We look at real mathematics and call it "chaos theory." Future generations will know that it's not chaos at all, and will joke about us. "They didn't even know the reality of infinity -- that 1+1=infinity, and so does 2+2, and 3+3, and so forth, because they only looked in one dimension. They did have some two- and even a rudimentary three-dimensional math, but nothing like we know how to do today!"
In chemistry we will be thought of as we currently look at ancient alchemists. We put on white coats and mix chemicals to force reactions just to see what they will do. We create poisons to make our lives better, but find that our environment gets more toxic. We burn and oxidize hydrocarbons for energy, not knowing how to really use the energy of the molecule. We only have a rudimentary understanding of enzymes and amino acid polymers, and only use carbohydrate polymers for fuel. We use chemicals to poison our bodies in all sorts of ways. All of our medicines are poisons, blocking the normal metabolism of the body. Future generations will be amazed that we were even able to function with all these poisons in our brains and bodies.
We have changed health care to "medicine," which always refers to patent drugs. We consider our doctors to be gods who can heal the body with a pill. Seventy percent of our population takes these poisonous pills. In the future, people will wag their heads at the stupidity and ignorance the same way we look at the witch-doctors of primitive societies. They had potions, most of which were poisonous, they cut the body, and spoke their incantations, shaking their instruments exactly the same we we do today. Our "research" is little more than marketing programs for drugs put together by copywriters. In the future, people will actually use science to understand the root cause of disease and improve the health of the population, and will look at us as primitives.
In philosophy, our logic is illogical. Our politics is illogical. Our religion is illogical. Our scientific thought is illogical. Richard Dawkins, a biologist, wrote a best-selling book that was widely acclaimed by scientists and lay people alike called, The God Delusion, that is merely a long string of logical fallacies from the title to the final sentence. People today thought it was a good book, and set the author up as a smart guy, a true philosopher indicating that those who read it probably couldn't define "logical fallacy" much less find one in a sentence. Nobody in our world is trained in philosophy -- not even the philosophers!
We are instead taught that we can create a new reality by thinking differently, or teaching others to think differently. Rather than seeking to describe the external truth about a subject, the philosophers are trying to create a new, internal reality. We are taught that if we can get everyone to believe a concept, then it becomes truth. Future generations will wonder how we could have gone so far backwards from the philosophers before us who were actually dedicated to discovering truth.
Getting it right means understanding things the way they really are. Our current vision is so limited as to make us completely ignorant of reality. The problem is found in focus. When we believe what we are taught by our society, we can only see what we are given, and understand what we are taught. This will always lead to ignorance. The word "ignorance" comes from the same root as "ignore." I believe this is appropriate because it's exactly what happens. We automatically see the things we are taught to see, and ignore the reality that is right in front of us. It has happened throughout history, and continues unabated today. When we are history, our ignorance will be discovered.
Our only hope is freedom. If men are free to think and act and are not taught the dogma of the day, then we have a chance to continue to learn and grow. The only way we can get out of our trap of ignorance is to "think outside the box." If society allows, and even encourages children to push the envelope we will find that there are many Einsteins, Teslas, and Edisons who can help us to grow, learn, and gain knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. Our lives will get better and better on a more rapid basis if we don't hold people down with our current beliefs.
Unfortunately, we are headed in the wrong direction. Government schools cannot teach freedom of thought, they instead teach "facts," which is just the dogmatic beliefs of the day. They are no different than the parochial schools of a thousand years ago. Children are taught to believe what they see, and then are taught what to see, ignoring what is right in front of them, and creating a whole world of ignorance. In a future history class they will hopefully understand that all our current dogma is really fiction, for now, we have to suffer in ignorance.
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