Some Thoughts On Knowledge And Faith

     I've been thinking a lot lately about the whole concept of knowledge. This came about as a result of a discussion I had a while ago on a friend's Facebook page. A friend of this friend took me to task for, in his words, "a surfeit of emotional attachment coupled with a dearth of rational examination. "

     It got me thinking. Do rationalism and faith have to exist in mutual exclusivity? I would propose that they do not. Further, I would propose that not only are they not mutually exclusive but that they are co dependent.
    
     Here is where the nitty meets the gritty. All knowledge is based on faith. For rationalism to exist precludes a faith in the absolute power of rationalism.To that extent, (faith in an absolute power) rationalism could be classed as just another religion. The only difference between a raging religious zealot and a fervent rationalist is the God that they worship.

     Here is another gem I came to realize in my musings. All knowledge is based on the vagaries of perception and context. Here is an example. A while ago, my young son was learning about measurement in school. One of his assignments was to measure a standard piece of letter sized paper. This he did with a ruler and determined that the paper was 8½" X 11". Done. Then I asked him,  "How thick is it?" "Nobody can measure that Dad." I rummaged in my drawer for my micrometer. ( I do mechanical work for a living which is often done with tight tolerances. Hence my ownership of such a tool.) "I can." We measured the thickness of the paper and determined that it was .004" or 4 one thousandths of an inch thick. Needless to say he scored a bit of a coup when he presented his homework to his teacher the next day.

     The point of that anecdote is the verification that knowledge is dependent on perception and context. My son's knowledge of the piece of paper was limited by his perception of it as a two dimensional object since he knew of no way to measure its third dimension. Further, his knowledge was limited by the context of the school assignment which required only a two dimensional measurement of the paper.

     New scientific discoveries are made almost daily which discredit or disprove conventionally accepted concepts in the human database of knowledge.

     If there is no scientific proof or rational explanation for the existence of God or a God Force, one must also accept that there is no rational explanation or scientific proof for the existence of science .Since, as previously stated both are derived from nothing more than human faith.

     Anyone who has spent time with a two year old knows that the ultimate unanswerable question is "Why?".  "What are you doing?" "Making cookies." "Why?" "Because I think homemade cookies taste better." "Why?" "Because they don't have chemicals and preservatives in them like store-bought cookies." "Store-bought cookies taste good." "Yes, but these taste better." "Why?" At this point rational scientific analysis of the situation breaks down and, without realizing it, we ask the child to make a leap of faith. " I don't know. They just do." No further explanation. "They just do." Invariably the little urchin has to take one more crack at blowing the safety valve off the steam dome...... "Why?"

     In my misspent youth, I tried to make a rational analysis of belief in some form of a higher power. Ultimately, I found that the exercise was almost as pointless as trying to analyse why homemade cookies taste better.

     Back to the toddler; "Do you believe In God?" "Yes." "Why?" "I don't know. I just do. And by the way..... homemade cookies taste better too!"


                                                                     ...more later