To accept any idea on faith converts it into a not-to-be-questioned (mystical) dogma which cannot be modified, extended, or discarded as a result of further knowledge. It is the mental equivalent of a straitjacket. In particular, the acceptance of an explanatory concept on faith causes disastrous epistemological consequences because it inverts the very purpose of an explanation. The epistemological role of an explanation is to account for some aspect of reality which we do not understand on the basis of concepts which have already been validated. An explanation based upon arbitrary assertions represents an attempt to account for some aspect of reality by using concepts which have not been validated. A rational scientist relies on mans knowledge: He accounts for the unexplained in terms of the known. The mystical scientist relies on mans ignorance: He tries to account for the unexplained in terms of the unknown. To attempt to explain a phenomenon by means of the unknown severs epistemology from reality: The thinking process is not anchored in fact.... The acceptance of an idea on faith inverts the epistemological process in one other way. Instead of forming concepts which correspond to reality, those who accept an idea on faith must now make reality correspond to their not-to-be-questioned dogma. Since reality will not, in fact, accommodate itself to a mans beliefs, such a man distorts his view of existence so that it appears to correspond to the idea which he holds on faith. In sum, the acceptance of any idea on faith leads to restriction, stagnation, paralysis, and distortion of the thinking process. -- Robert Efron, M.D., Biology Without Consciousness - And Its Consequences, The Objectivist, February 1968
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 01:11:33 +0000
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