Howdy all!
I recently watched an episode of the Big Bang Theory. The fact there is a show about the BBT is proof that the theory is true!! (Just kidding, sheesh!)
Anyhow, in this episode, Sheldon was fooled by a magic trick that Howard performed. One of the smartest men in the world couldn’t figure out a magic trick and it near drove him nuts.
It got me thinking. Imagine how easy it would be, back before we had easy access to knowledge, back before we could even easily communicate with others and imagine someone performing a magic trick, for these people. Do you have any doubt that those watching could be easily baffled? I readily admit, I am fooled by almost all illusions and magic tricks. I, likely, would not have known to do with that information had I witnessed a similar feat back thousands of years ago.
So, it isn’t difficult to understand how people jumped to witchcraft or even jumped to, the gods as possible answers to explain these seemingly impossible feats.
I get it.
I understand how easy a religion can start because we, as humans, lack a lot of knowledge but always demand answers. But, my question is, what is our excuse today?
We all know illusions are tricks. We all know, for every mystery we ever solved, there has always been a natural, explainable answer. I can see why people, thousands of years ago, jumped to gods but why do we? We know Zeus doesn’t throw lightning bolts at us but we can all understand why people may have reached that conclusion so many years ago, can’t we?
I also found it ironic, even though Sheldon could NOT figure out the trick, it all proved to be a scam perpetrated by Howard and Kuthrapalli to frustrate the heck out of Sheldon. But, Sheldon never once considered the mystery unsolvable or worse, that it was the works of the supernatural. Do you know why?
Because, jumping to the supernatural has always been our way to cope with the mysteries of life. We didn’t have the experiences, or the knowledge, to think further than that. Using a completely impossible answer like the supernatural made sense because what better way to describe the impossible than to say it as created by the impossible?
Now, I’m not trying to make any claims. I’m certainly not trying to suggest a sitcom has the answers to our religious beliefs, either. It just got me thinking.
So, I’m just wondering what you think?
- Is it not reasonable to assume, for all our mysteries, there are natural answers? or at the very least, reasonable to not immediately jump to the supernatural?
- Has history not proven to us, over and over again, the supernatural has never been the answer? It has always been nature?
- Why, then, should we even consider the supernatural as plausible with no supernatural events to even refer to?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYvA7aAqnYo
Pope Hilarius II