Higher Power Hypothesis
Once upon an antiquity,
some imaginative hunter-gatherer, pondering the
myriad mysteries of existence and finding no
reasonable explanations, invented a few unreasonable
ones to amuse himself and his fellows. Such
fancies did nothing to enhance understanding, of
course, but they satisfied the human yearning to
"know."
Ever since that time, a
higher power has been the subject of continual
conjecture. It has been characterized as
fortune, fate, predestination, and universal
consciousness. It has been personified and
worshipped as spirits, demons, and gods, which
control the universe and dwell in such unfathomable
realms as Olympus, Hades, Paradise, Hell, and
Valhalla. Its mysteries have been divined from
the alignments of stars, animal entrails, and tea
leaves. Its will has been proclaimed by seers,
priests, prophets, messiahs, evangelists,
politicians, and terrorist leaders.
Belief in a higher power
has had profound and varied effects upon
civilization. It has spawned both hope and
dread, fostered tradition and fueled superstition,
commanded countless rites and sacrifices, and
motivated the building and destruction of
nations. Belief has provided justification for
tyranny, slavery, and persecution, as well as the
strength to endure them and the courage to challenge
them. It has inspired great works of art and
architecture, tons of scripture and scholarly
treatises, not to mention lifetimes of prayer,
meditation, and speculation.
Yet millennia of
theorizing about a higher power have failed to
advance us a millimeter toward an objective
determination of whether such an entity actually
exists. In the perpetual absence of credible
evidence* that it does, therefore, it strikes some of
us as reasonable to suppose that it does not.
We simply accept that nature is natural, that our
responsibility as humans is toward humanity, that the
meaning of life derives solely from the living of it,
and that—regardless of whether it is Friday the
13th or Tuesday the 11th—shit happens.
=SAJ=