Let's face it

Man will forever follow the desire to understand reality. Which is to say that understanding reality comes to us naturally. It is inborn, we can't escape it. But where is this different from animals? Man and beast alike explore reality to find what we need to keep us going, whether it is air, food, a friend, a mate, or shelter from the storm. What sets man apart is our need and our ability to understand reality, not just experience it. What is this that we call understanding?

Understanding is forging agreement about what took place when and is taking place now by linking the facts to a theoretical framework. Understanding is a reflection about what is, a mental construct of our experience. Reality and our reflections of reality are all that we experience, whether our eyes are open or shut. When open, we can find agreement, when shut we can at best have faith that our life has a preordained purpose, although some people claim to know this rather than belief it. They have seen the light. But there is no way to be sure. Agreed, there is this biblical account, but by definition the bible, torah, koran, [fill in your sacred text] are closed books containing the secrets of life, the morals of which are reinterpreted by each passing generation. No new knowledge has been added to this age-old story, if we allow ourselves to forget about the Church's fanatical desire to find new saints where no science can find them.

Religion is only one form of shared belief. Science is another, although of a fundamentally different kind. One that offers the opportunity to shape the future. I belief in the scientific method to understand how nature works. I also belief that you and I share a common ancestor. I don't know all the pieces of this puzzle that goes back to our tribe in Africa, but I buy into it. It has painestakenly been put together by millions of people. For me it is just too good not to be true.

Compare the advances made by science with what organized religion has contributed to where we are today. While science, and there is only one science, works towards a common understanding of what is and towards a shared understanding of our destiny, the role of the many religions is to guide this search with stories about how to live our lives. Contrary to our ability to figure out how life works, we will never know the meaning of life. But we do know for a fact that each of us can't escape trying to find the answer. In the end only science can keep us all breathing freely, fed, and sheltered from the storm.