"Science of Not Knowing" by John E. Mack, M.D.
Despite official skepticism and even cynicism in media, government, and
scientific circles, it must be evident to many Americans that something
extraordinary-at least from the standpoint of the Western worldview-is going on.
No conventional explanation for the thousands of reported cases of encounters
with alien beings has been sufficient, and this remains true in spite of the
fact that the experiencers themselves would, with rare exceptions, welcome any
explanation other than that they are being visited without their permission by
humanoid creatures from another place.
Yet the debate that is devoted to the UFO abduction phenomenon remains focused
largely on the question of whether or not it is real in the strictly physical
sense. Some skeptics even claim or imply that, insofar as the physical evidence
for the reality of the phenomenon does not meet standards of scientific proof,
we can presume for practical purposes that it does not exist at all.
But what if the phenomenon were subtle in the sense that it may manifest in the
physical world, but derive from a source which by its very nature could not
provide the kind of hard evidence that would satisfy skeptics for whom reality
is limited to the material? If so, might we not be losing an opportunity to
learn and grow as a species by remaining so wedded to an epistemology of
physical proof?
What if, instead, we were to acknowledge that the abduction phenomenon is
intrinsically mysterious and, ultimately, beyond our present framework of
knowledge? What if we were to admit our puzzlement before this mystery?
Might not such an attitude of humility become, paradoxically, a way to enlarge
upon what could then be learned? Is it possible that adopting an open attitude
could result in greater knowledge not only about the physical aspects of the
phenomenon, but about numinous dimensions as well?
And might not this opening of consciousness enable us to learn of unseen
realities now obscured by our too limited epistemology, allowing us to
rediscover the sacred and the divinity in nature and in ourselves?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
joshb@mraha.kitenet.net (josX) responded on May 22, 2001
In article <cYtO6.3338$r4.177064@www.newsranger.com>, Sir Arthur C. B.
Wholeflaffer A. S. A. wrote:
"Science of Not Knowing" by John E. Mack, M.D.
Despite official skepticism and even cynicism in media, government, and
scientific circles, it must be evident to many Americans that something
extraordinary-at least from the standpoint of the Western worldview-is
going on.
Crop-circles, UFO's in the sky, UFO's flying along jets, UFO's colliding
with them even.... abduction-stories that are the same through time and
place (!)... yes /something/ is going on, whatever that is. Or it is some
highly secret arm of the military that makes crop-circles in barns and
transplants the *bend* crops at night in field, being so quick the camera
can't register it, they produce craft that can pull off-the-scale g-forces,
craft that can appear/dis-appear, and that can make the ground infertile for
some time after a appearing close to the ground, all that with some new
propulsion technology that is not mass-ejecting.
Ok, *something* is out of the ordinary...
No conventional explanation for the thousands of reported cases of encounters
with alien beings has been sufficient, and this remains true in spite of the
fact that the experiencers themselves would, with rare exceptions, welcome any
explanation other than that they are being visited without their permission by
humanoid creatures from another place.
From some reports, the witnesses denied for some time that anything strange
happened, until it happened again.
Yet the debate that is devoted to the UFO abduction phenomenon remains focused
largely on the question of whether or not it is real in the strictly physical
sense. Some skeptics even claim or imply that, insofar as the physical evidence
for the reality of the phenomenon does not meet standards of scientific proof,
we can presume for practical purposes that it does not exist at all.
But what if the phenomenon were subtle in the sense that it may manifest in the
physical world, but derive from a source which by its very nature could not
provide the kind of hard evidence that would satisfy skeptics for whom reality
is limited to the material? If so, might we not be losing an opportunity to
learn and grow as a species by remaining so wedded to an epistemology of
physical proof?
I like to point to crop-circles, landing sites, the story-consistency (ok,
soft, but anyway), the sighting-reports (also soft). There is *some* hard
evidence available, all in deniable quantities apparently, but it is there
nevertheless. Untrustworthiness of NASA, CIA and USA-gov and science
ludicrously (12th planet, dark-matter bs) add to the soft-evidence from the
"other side"...
What if, instead, we were to acknowledge that the abduction phenomenon is
intrinsically mysterious and, ultimately, beyond our present framework of
knowledge? What if we were to admit our puzzlement before this mystery?
Well hehehe, ;-), that would be the *least*, yeah.
Might not such an attitude of humility become, paradoxically, a way to enlarge
upon what could then be learned?
Think so, isn't humility towards what you research a pre-condition to
real honest and deep knowledge? I say yes, whatever the subject, humility
towards the entire *subject* - not towards the entities in question -
is always good, makes you pull your eyes as wide open as possible, to soak
all evidence and non-evidence in deep...
Is it possible that adopting an open attitude
could result in greater knowledge not only about the physical aspects of the
phenomenon, but about numinous dimensions as well?
It seems only fair Science to me to be open at all times to whatever
hypotheses....so YES!
And might not this opening of consciousness enable us to learn of unseen
realities now obscured by our too limited epistemology, allowing us to
rediscover the sacred and the divinity in nature and in ourselves?
YES !!! well spoken!!! great.
regards,
Jos
--
Giving the trolls a cookie of their own making, the ol' one-two-punch scheme
hehehe :-)
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed - Dwight D. Eisenhower