'the cost of sanity in this society is a certain level of alienation'. -terence mckenna
what is sane? the problem with abstract ideas or definitions is that they are open to wide and sometimes wildly different interpretations.
to me, sanity requires critical thinking, the questioning of 'authority', and the ultimate rejection of everything that is dogmatic or faith based, which pretty much includes everything pertaining to religion. but does this truly lead to sanity? does such a thing actually exist?
it may not. scientific inquiry has led to some very strange if not mind blowing conclusions, such as quantum theory and entanglement
a complex idea that is hard if not impossible to understand, which seems to have little if any practical relevance to life.
maybe there is no purpose or meaning to life or existence. this is the hard (sur)reality that one is faced with when one fully embraces science and rejects religion, or dogmatism, and if there is no ultimate purpose or meaning, can there be such a thing as sanity? i don't know.
i think i've learned to embrace uncertainty, which is the heart and soul of agnosticism, which to me is also the nearest one can get to having a sane or rational philosophy of existence. such a view i think does place one at odds with mainstream society, which does embrace dogmatic beliefs and recoils from the possibility of a godless existence (or worse yet, the possibility of an insane existence with an insane god).
which brings me to my point. i have a bit of a savior complex, but here again, one must be careful in defining the word 'savior', particularly to christians who associate it with christ and the idea that we possess immortal souls which need to be saved by embracing christianity. rather, the salvation i seek is more modest and science based, and has to do with saving our species from self-destruction, from the path we are currently on leading to our own near term extinction, along with the near term extinction of most other species on our planet, which i believe we are bringing about thanks largely to our ignorance and rejection of a rational, scientific worldview in favor of an irrational (but apparently comforting to many) dogmatic religious worldview, which essentially says that what matters most is not mortal life, but the supposed immortal disposition of our 'souls' which of course is dependent upon our supposed 'free will' to either accept or reject the supposed truth contained in religion.
i lack faith in the possibility that our species is capable of saving itself and much of the rest of life on earth from the destructive path we're currently on, but i must act as if there is such a possibility, which means i must do what i can to try to make humanity more rational and less dogmatic, embracing a science-based worldview more concerned with maximizing the quality and quantity of mortal biological life rather than the theoretical disposition of our theoretical immortal souls.
u may think i'm being melodramatic in asserting that our faith-based culture is ignorant and racing towards self-destruction, but i think that may be because u've spent too much time studying books like the bible instead of scientific literature, like things i've read pertaining to the phenomena of population overshoot, resource depletion, environmental degradation, ecological destruction, and especially manmade climate disruption. books such as SIX DEGREES by mark lynas published nearly 20 years ago to no great effect, backed by solid scientific studies and facts.
there is a downside to this worldview which is encapsulated in the quote i began this dissertation with. it's an alienation from mainstream society (including many current friends and family) which can make your life less happy, less fulfilling, and more difficult. i can't say what's right for u, i can only embrace what is right for me.
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