I read a commentary in Scientific American magazine called “In Science We Trust” about how we trust that science will change our lives and the world, but science is ever-changing. None of it is fixed. The laws of science are changeable, and ever-changing - there is no firm foundation - it is still being excavated, and they (scientists) haven’t reached terra firma yet. The article was essentially stating that we should teach people not to expect too much of science so as not to get their hopes up when science can’t deliver. How can we put our trust in science if it can’t always deliver? The editorial was amazingly frank for a scientific journal. It reveals the understanding that so far, our knowledge of the world is temporary, at best. There is nothing permanent upon which to base a foundation. Science, then, is a paradox. Nothing has yet been found that is real. All is temporary. Our understanding of law (that which is obeyed because it is) is relative to perspective; even the so-called laws of physics only work in special cases, within a defined set of parameters, as discovered by Einstein. Outside the box they no longer apply. Things are not as they seem. We have perfectly logical explanations for our observations - all of which change with new discoveries. People need to be able to let go of mistaken beliefs as the science evolves.
For example, the ancient Greeks had a logical view of the observed universe with mathematic formulas that explained perfectly the movements of the stars and other heavenly bodies. In their explanation, the Earth was at the center, the sky was as a dome with little holes that allowed light to pass. It fit. It was so perfect that the prevailing religionists of the day even accepted it as a God-given truth. When after centuries of this teaching, Galileo challenged it by observation with a better instrument, the telescope, the “scientific” explanation was seen for what it really was - merely belief, and incorrect at that. Those who were firm in this belief tried to silence Galileo so as not to challenge their belief system. The need to silence the truth to avoid challenge of a belief system is almost universal and occurs with every new discovery (e.g.: gene research today). This requirement to change ones weltanschauung with every new discovery seems to be difficult for humans. We want a firm foundation. We want something that doesn’t change.
Another example is the “science” ( I use the term loosely because it implies “knowledge” or “truth”) of the 1800’s when the Minister of Science in Great Britain said that all that can be invented or discovered for the benefit of man already had been. At that time and all history before there was no understanding of microorganisms and their effect on the world. In spite of this, they had a perfectly logical explanation for why things became rotten, such as food. It was described as a chemical reaction called “oxidation” wherein oxygen would react with the chemicals in the food which would break down, change, and become putrid. This fits all observed “facts” that can be experienced regarding food. If food is kept away from oxygen, it will not get rotten (the exceptions had further logical explanations), and it could be preserved in acid (vinegar) which would prevent an oxidative chemical reaction. After centuries of this explanation, through discoveries in the world of microbiology, it became understood that it was the presence of bacteria that caused the food to rot. Now an entirely new explanation for the observed phenomena had to be produced - and it fits as well. It would be arrogant to assume that our current germ theories fully explain the observed phenomena.
There are reasons why science is constantly changing. It’s because we are constantly discovering new things. It seems we have a great deal of difficulty gathering information and processing it because we are unable to perceive and interpret all the information around us. We deceive ourselves, though not on purpose.
The Deception of the Mind
Our senses are deceptive. We sense things by reflected light, vibrations, changes in temperature, etc. It is only the delta of a phenomenon that allows us to detect it. “Dark matter” is only dark because it is all the same to us, our methods of detecting it are useless. If all things were exactly the same color and brightness, we might as well be blind. All the light in the world isn’t going to allow us to see, or rather, distinguish objects. If all things made the same tone, or vibrated at the same frequency there would be no way of hearing. Our perception, then, is limited because we can only detect changes, variability, waves, and differences. (God describes Himself as “the same,” and “unchanging,” I wonder if we are unable to perceive Him?)
Reality is so complex it appears to be chaos to our minds. We must, therefore, reject large amounts of sensory input to process any information at all. It is understood that we don’t completely perceive a phenomenon. The brain automatically compartmentalizes part of the sensory stimulation that we have already experienced while literally ignoring most of the input we receive. This is how so many magicians are able to fool us. This also explains why learning languages in adulthood is so difficult - any sound one hasn’t heard before is ignored by the brain and is learned only with a great deal of effort - if at all. A cat that is raised in a room with only horizontal lines won’t perceive vertical lines; it will bump into table legs and other vertical objects because the brain ignores them. The input into the brain, therefore, is incomplete because it is so dependent on previous experience.
What’s more, our minds are deceiving in the interpretation of input. Input may be itself deceptive, but when the mind starts interpreting the data, things really become mixed up. Confabulation, making up information to fill in perceived gaps, is well-documented. A simple example is the filling in of the optic cup by the brain. Also, when something is observed that isn’t consistent with past experience of the brain, the mind fills in gaps and creates an interpretation that may be entirely wrong, but at least gives the sense of understanding. This is shown to happen in all brains but can be clearly seen in dementia where the brain loses some ability to store and interpret data. The person with dementia commonly makes up whatever necessary to fill any blanks where they think they should have understanding. The explanation sounds perfectly correct and feasible to them, even when they are clearly wild distortions to the outside observer. The explanations we give for things are fit into compartments based on previous experience. If there is no previous experience, it is associated with something close, and the brain fills in the gaps. We interpret what we perceive based on what we already know so we can make sense of the world. All the mind needs is a rational explanation to be at peace, even if it is wrong.
When a person assumes his theories about the world are true, the mind will automatically reject anything other than whatever supports them. I have a friend who is “Christian” and believes she knows all truth. She has already been “saved” and has become part of God - “one with Him” - and needs nothing else. She’s done. When I gave her a Book of Mormon to help her in her quest to know God, she said: “I already have enough.” This is pride. She arrogantly assumes she knows God, and therefore all truth (yet, ironically, she admits she doesn’t fully understand the concept of “Godhead” or “Trinity”). This is just as damning (damn: stop ones spiritual progression) as those who call themselves “atheists,” who have a firm belief that there is no God and reject all evidence to the contrary. It is still rejecting truth, preventing any new evidence from disrupting a firmly held belief.
This type of rationalization can be seen in all aspects of life. My brother sees the world in a political way. He has a theory that the “right” way is “conservative,” maintaining the original constitutional republic that began over 200 years ago in the United States. Because of his theory, he must explain the evidence he gathers. He is constantly gathering evidence for his “conservative” views. One helpful way to maintain a belief and prevent challenge is to form an us-them dichotomy. That way, if someone doesn’t agree with your belief, you can label him “one of them.” “Those who are not with us, are against us.” The conservatives versus the liberals. If you aren’t conservative, then, by definition, you’re liberal. Truth and salvation come from being conservative. And, by default, liberals are destructive liars. Using this worldview, it is easy to characterize people. If somebody presents evidence that your conservative view isn’t in the best interest of the nation, you can immediately characterize him as a liberal, and therefore a liar and outright reject all evidence presented by him. Thus, you never have to change your beliefs; you can’t be challenged. You get to maintain the illusion of truth and a firm foundation.
The same can be said of any belief that one holds and is unwilling to change. Issues such as abortion, evolution, Christianity, Islam, communism, or any other belief system polarize those who espouse one side or the other to support it with divisive emotional arguments and name-calling rather than evidence. There is no truth in any of these, only arguments for or against. The deepest foundations still don’t lie on solid ground and are therefore inherently unstable. This seems to be understood on some unconscious level because the dialectic would only be needed to prevent contrary evidence from breaking down the firmly held belief. If one were truly standing on a firm foundation he would permit, even welcome, all evidence. He would try to see all points of view. There would be no need for us-them because there would be no need to reject any evidence from “them”.
Seeking Truth
The only lasting and firm foundation is truth. Truth is the knowledge of things as they are, as they were, and as they are to come (D&C 93:24). In other words, truth is independent of person, place or time. It can only be discovered, not created, because it always is - completely independent of the observer’s perception and interpretation. Then how can one know the truth? There is only one way. There is only one truth; it comes from God. There is only one God. Seeking God leads one to truth. The process of knowing God is the process of discovering truth. Since God is outside of our experience, this process may be brief, or long and arduous, depending on the willingness of the individual to let go of the perceptions and interpretations of his senses, his previously held beliefs. Some people seem to recognize the truth immediately, and easily give up all they have “known” without a struggle. Others trust their senses too much and don’t “see” the truth; it doesn’t fit with their current understanding and theories, so it’s rejected as “irrelevant, superstitious, or religious.”
The truth is not found in the light-gathering and focusing ability of the eye, nor in the perception of the brain, but rather on what is not seen. This makes perfect sense since the senses and brain aren’t trustworthy. Accepting this concept, then how can anyone ever be sure he is gathering truth? There must be another way to gather evidence. Learning the ways of truth isn’t easy. It uses more than the senses of the body; it requires the senses of the spirit. God states He isn’t temporal (of time), carnal (of the body) or natural (of a worldly nature), but rather He is spiritual (of the spirit). There are feelings of the body - cathexis, anger, hunger, pain, excitement, cold, etc. - and there are feelings of the spirit. These are harder to explain with mere words, for words don’t convey the actual feeling, and when one hasn’t experienced these feelings before he is completely unable to understand. These are usually described as peace, love, joy, burning, warmth, on the one hand; and depression, conscience, anxiety, on the other. The ability to distinguish the feelings of the body from the feelings of the spirit takes time, patience, and a great deal of effort. Since the discovery of truth is dependent on knowing this distinction, it is clear that truth cannot just be doled-out in a classroom. Indeed, it cannot be given to another at all. Truth can only be accepted by each individual when he is humble, teaches himself to distinguish and experience his spiritual feelings, and gains faith.
Understanding this concept is of utmost importance to realize that all perceptions, theories, beliefs, understanding, knowledge, and interpretations that come through the senses cannot be trusted. Once this is understood, one can begin to develop the spiritual senses through which truth can be discovered. The process of discovering truth starts with belief. Belief is the basis of all world-views. Whatever one initially believes isn’t relevant, as long as he continues searching. When one stops searching his beliefs are entrenched by various means, as above, and he is called “proud.” However, when one is continually searching he is open to change, he suspends judgment on any issue. The search for truth requires a willingness to change one’s beliefs. As spiritual evidence is gathered beliefs will be modified or even abandoned. This kind of openness and willingness to change is humility. Being humble allows one to develop faith.
Faith is the Evidence of Truth
Faith is a very misunderstood concept. Most use the terms “faith” and “belief” interchangeably. I see them as related, but at different ends. Belief refers to the interpretation or understanding one puts on his observations of his world. Faith, however, is the substance and evidence of something that can’t be seen, according to Paul. The Prophet Alma says that in order to be faith, it must be true, otherwise it is only belief; if your belief isn’t true, it can’t be called faith. Though you cannot see what you believe in, you still can gather evidence, because faith is the knowledge, substance, and evidence you receive through your spirit. Often, people hear a truth and say, “I always knew that” but they had never heard it before - there was no physical concept in the brain but they feel they knew it. Faith is what you know, but can’t see, hear, or feel by the senses of the body. It is revealed by God only to the spirit. (D&C 76:10) It is a different sort of gathering knowledge than what we learned as children, and must itself be learned. If one hasn’t developed his spiritual senses, truth is as gibberish that is filtered out by the brain. (I think that’s why all the Hollywood movies and cartoons portray prophets as eccentric babblers, [with notable exceptions] they don’t understand.) All that is true, all that is firm, all that can be known isn’t discovered through the senses of the body, only by the senses of the spirit. Faith, then is the only reliable way to discover truth. Faith is real. One of the greatest paradoxes of life is that what we see and hear is real, and what we feel in our hearts is deceptive; reality is the opposite.
There is a standard by which to measure truth. The writings of those called by God to reveal Himself to the world (prophets) are called scripture. They are a foundation of truth because they contain the words of God, and God knows all truth. They are revealed to help school us in gaining understanding of truth and its acquisition. Those who have a well-developed spiritual sensitivity will find a great deal of truth by reading scripture, while those who don’t will find a book of history or platitudes -- and a very boring book. Paradoxically, a good way to develop spiritual sensitivity is by reading and trying to understand the scriptures. Reading, pondering, and praying together make up the essential list for developing spiritual feelings. Those who do these will make exciting discoveries of truth every time they read. Though they have read the exact words a hundred times, new understanding of meanings will be discovered. It is amazing how the exact same sentence can apply to so many different situations and speak truth on so many levels.
Feed the Truth
It seems there is a constant war between good and evil. Evil comes through the senses and feelings of the body, whereas that which is good comes from the feelings and senses of the spirit. The scriptures teach how to develop spiritual sensitivities. There was an old American Indian chief who during an interview described this war as two dogs fighting inside him. When asked which dog won, he replied, “the one I feed the most.” “Feeding the good dog while starving the bad dog” is a good analogy. Continual practice by reading, pondering, and praying feeds the spirit. Fasting is a true principle designed, among other things, to help us to starve, literally, the body while feeding the spirit, and is an excellent way to develop spiritual feelings. All the “commandments” are designed to help us to develop the spirit while starving the body. The Ten Commandments, for example, give us a basis for avoiding the pitfalls common to human experience. The first four describe common problems associated with worship. Everybody has a god - even “atheists” because they have something upon which to base their beliefs and feelings. That which we seek after is called worship. Common gods are money, power, relationships, pleasure, comfort, knowledge, etc. The first four commandments tell us to worship God, to seek after Him and Him only. The last six explain more of our relationships with others - to be ethical in our dealings. Jesus, when asked which was the greatest commandment, said that the love of God and man forms the basis of all commandments. The development of this love and the development of spiritual sensitivity go hand-in-hand. They are dependent on one another.
People worship and become dependent on many different feelings of the body. Feeding the feelings of the body suppresses, or starves, the feelings of the spirit, and vice versa. For example, unloving sexual behavior of any type feeds the very excitable pleasure senses in the body. This type of excitement seems to overwhelm all other sensitivities. Even “looking upon a woman to lust after her” (pornography) feeds this type of excitement and suppresses the tender feelings of true love between a man and a woman. This sensuality becomes a substitute for love. Even the common vernacular of the day shows how pervasive this has become. The word “love” has become synonymous with “sex” almost universally and has lost its scriptural meaning for most people. In reality, sexual excitement replaces love, or rather, displaces love. One quickly becomes unable to feel love and prefers sexual excitement instead, because it’s the only way he can feel at all. Participation in any sexual activities that are designed to stimulate this sort of excitation (whether in or out of marriage) feeds the sensual dog, and therefore causes one to worship the god of pleasure, and, by default, starves the dog that is sensitive to the whisperings of the spirit.
These same phenomena can be seen with any sort of addiction. Drugs, alcohol, and other narcotics and stimulants give such a strong feeling of well-being or stimulation to some people that it suppresses their abilities to feel good in any other way. They then crave the feeling they get with the drug, to the exclusion of all else (this is the extreme, which I have frequently seen, but there are, of course, varying degrees). Some feel good only when they can buy stuff. I had a patient who lived alone in an upstairs apartment and never left because of agoraphobia. She stayed home and shopped from a television program constantly. When I was called to see her, I paid a visit to her apartment and was flabbergasted to see the entire one-thousand square feet stacked four to six feet high with stuff she had bought, most of which had never been opened. There were only six-inch aisles between the stuff to get to the bed, bathroom, and kitchen. How ironic that she had an extreme “fear of the marketplace,” and at the same time was addicted to shopping. She was obviously very ill, but mostly in spirit, and I was unable to help her as a physician. Keeping the commandments of God is the process of the opposite of these examples. It is putting the body in subjection to the spirit. Once the spiritual (God) reigns, one begins to discern truth.
Truth Personified
The scriptures are divided into “testament” for a good reason. They are meant to testify of truth. Our current records don’t come close to containing all the writings of all prophets who have lived on the Earth. What we have is a compendium of certain prophets. Their purpose is to testify of the Messiah, the Chosen One, the King of kings. In one sense, the Old Testament is a book of the genealogy of the Messiah. The stories in it are stories of the ancestors of Him who would become the Christ. That was the promise given to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Ruth, David, Solomon, and all Israel: that one of their descendants would become the Anointed One who would bless every person. The purpose of the New Testament is to testify of the fulfillment of that promise. It happened. He came to Earth, sent by God to be a sacrifice so all people who ever lived, or ever will live, can become complete, whole, happy and fulfilled - in spite of themselves. This sacrifice is called the Atonement, meaning, “to bring together in one.”
Ultimately, all truth is dependent on this one truth; the basis or foundation of ALL truth is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. All things exist only because of the Atonement. It brings all things together into one. This is the point from which all creation, perception, interpretation, or understanding must be viewed in order to be sure one has truth. Without the Atonement of Jesus Christ there is nothing. Nothing could exist. We couldn’t exist. We are supported by God in our daily lives, even second-by-second, only because of His Atonement. This support is clearly seen by those who have well-developed spiritual feelings; those who only know the senses of the body aren’t able to perceive it. God could not support us or give us all these gifts except for what Jesus Christ has done. When this concept is clearly understood, then truth is knowable; you are on a firm foundation from which you can accept all evidence without fear of disrupting your belief system. “The truth shall make you free.” You are free to gain more faith, more truth, more knowledge that is constant and enduring, without being shackled by the very limited physical senses. Without this truth there is only argument and belief. This, then, is the yardstick by which all evidence can be measured. The weaknesses in perception and interpretation can be overcome by measuring everything against Jesus Christ, His life, His teachings, and ultimately, His atonement. That is the one great truth that circumscribes all others.
