Why are we still dictating “reality”?

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This question is especially relevant for the scientists who struggle on a daily basis to help us understand the reality of the world of things as they are revealed to our senses and interpreted by our intellect.

However history has shown us that defining the “reality” of the world of things is not as easy as some might believe.
For example most European scientists in the Middle Ages believed that Ptolemaic or geocentric system of astronomy defined the reality of planetary motion in terms of the existence of epicycles.

It was not until scientific investigations were stimulated by Copernicus and advancements in observational technology made in the 15 hundreds did they realize epicycles did not exist and that the planets did not revolve around the earth but the sun. This is true even though many Greek, Indian, and Muslim savants had published heliocentric hypotheses centuries before Copernicus.

Yet how is possible that two groups can have such a divergent concept of reality and why did it take so long for the heliocentric, the more representative interpretation of that “reality” to be accepted by the European scientists.

The reason cannot be attributed to different technologies because they were both based on naked eye observations.  In other words they both had access to the same world of sensory information.

This suggests the reason may have been related to how these two groups interpreted data.

In the Middle Ages the Catholic Church was the dominate force in the European society and was able to influence how the world was viewed.  In fact many blame them for the lack of progress in the sciences during what has come to be called the Dark Ages.  

They will often point to how in 1633 they forced Galileo to recant the concept of a heliocentric universe he was promoting.

However the fact it took more than a 500 years for Europeans to accept the more representative concept of a heliocentric solar system points to a more fundamental flaw not only in that culture but in the functionality of the human mind that is related to the Churches desire to suppress it.  In other words during that period the flexibility of its creative process were inhibited by the rigidity of the authoritarian rulers of that period

This was not as much of a problem for Greek, Indian, and Muslim savants because they had a more diverse and less rigid historical tradition.

Many think that we have left the age where those in authority can dictate how a population views reality.

Yet there are many similarities between then and now

This become apparent when looks at how modern science is attempting to integrate the new discoveries relating to dark matter and energy into the current theoretical models.

As mentioned earlier one reason the Dark Ages lasted so long was because the educational authorities (The Church) of that period felt that it agree more closely with their ideology or what they believe reality to be.  Therefore they only considered the Ptolemaic or geocentric model even after new observations, such as the one made by Galileo suggested that a heliocentric one was a more plausible.   Another contributing factor was that they also controlled the education system and had the ability to dictate what ideas were and were not studied and therefore the intellectual direction students could take.

In other words the intellectual authorities of that period prevented or at least made it extremely difficult for European’s to look in direction other than what they wanted them to. 

Unfortunately not much has changed since then because the authoritative nature of the modern science and educational systems still dictates what ideas can and cannot be explored by their members.

For example most modern educational systems dictate to their students what subjects they will study and which books are used by limiting the selection of them.  However, similar to the authorities in the Dark Ages it gives them the ability to control or influence the intellectual direction students can take because in many cases the books and subjects they are required to study champion the ideas and concepts that support those of the intellectual authorities.  In other words modern system of education are similar to the ones in the Dark Ages in that in many cases it prevents or at least makes it extremely difficult for today’s students to look in direction other than one that intellectual authorities of our time what them to.

Some say this is not a valid comparison because modern educators in most cases do not overtly threaten their students who challenge them with them with physical harm as was sometimes done in the dark ages. However modern students know that they must graduate to get good jobs and to do that they must prove to their teachers that they have mastered the ideas contained in the books they are required to read.  Unfortunately due to the repetitive nature of most of our educational systems it also has the undesirable effect of conditioning their minds to think only in those terms.

Additionally similar to the earlier 19 hundreds today’s higher education makes it very difficult for those individuals who have voice their dissatisfaction with the current theoretical models to get accepted to a graduate program which discourages them form thinking “outside of the box”.

Some might disagree and point to Einstein who in those years successfully promoted a new paradigm that changed our understanding of our universes.  However he accomplished that not with the help of the authorities but in spite of them. They should remember he developed those ideas not as a graduate student or in the confines of a facility devoted to higher education but as a low level clerk in a patent office.

This means that at a very early age most are indoctrinated by the intellectual authorities to their way of thinking because they know if they do not or voice opposition to it they will have negative impact on their ability to get a good job or continue their education.

This does not present a problem if their thinking is correct however it does if it is not because that indoctrination makes it extremely difficult to look in a new direction.

History has shown the most reliable way of interpreting reality is based on observations.  New observations related to Dark Matter and Energy among others is forcing many in the scientific community to question how modern theories have interpreted the “reality” which defines our universe. 

Changing an authoritative regime is very difficult in politics as well as in science.  However history has shown that changes are inevitable when the facts demand it no matter how much they try to prevent it.

Later Jeff

Copyright Jeffrey O’Callaghan 2012

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