Little Twiloan

I was very intrigued with a physicist story that changed my perspective on things, particularly on religion and other theoretical beliefs.

The story goes like this.

There exists a human-like alien community outside of our planet. These aliens from the planet Twilo, or the Twiloans, are very much like humans. They have the same biological composition, same cognitive ability, and almost the same environment as the humans have. However, they could not see the color black and white. In their eyes, clouds are nonexistent. We have no idea of how they see things that are black and white, but they are different from how humans perceive it.

And so the smartest of the Twiloans fled to Earth, because they are as curious as we are regarding life on other planets. Soon, they came across a soccer field and decided to watch a football game. However, something does not make sense. They wondered why the players were kicking in the air, dancing with their feet, or flinging their heads upward. Seeing as it was a famous sport, they tried to analyze the game and its mechanics. Soon enough, they deduced that the game is made up of two teams, the offensive and the defensive. They also go back and forth once a player reaches the end. They also discovered that a player is protecting the team’s goal. This goal is an important part of the game, they thought. Every time an invisible force is exerted on the goal, and if the net is moved backwards, the other team leaps with joy as if they won. Thus, a point is added.

After deciphering almost all of the mechanics of the game, they still can’t quite put their finger on it. What is this invisible force? What is the objective of this game? And so they thought and thought about how everything must fit together, until the smallest Twiloan spoke up. He said, what if there was an object that they are trying to get to the other side? Like basketball, but they have to use their feet. The other Twiloans were astounded at the little Twiloan’s observation. So they postulated an object that could fit perfectly into the picture.

This story is very much like how people try to figure out the sense of life. What is the objective? How does everything make sense? And so people postulate something that could fit the pieces together. We all know how the universe works, how people think, what the world needs, what do we do to survive, but we lack purpose. Similar to the Twiloans, we have tried in vain to substitute something that isn’t there to give everything its meaning. We place a supernatural being to make sense out of our life. Here comes God, Allah, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and many more. But we are not really sure about the real characteristics of the true god, and as a result, many religions have emerged. We could imagine how the Twiloans argued about the true nature of this object that is being passed around. Some might say it’s as big as a basketball, it’s oval-shaped, it’s colored green, and then giving out hundreds of reasons for their hypothesis. Similar to humankind, we have argued about the nature of god, closing our minds with the truth that was passed on from generations, and have become mandated to share their word to other people who think otherwise. We have devised countless doctrines, unproven truths, and endless wars as to fulfill our duty to our respective gods, but can one really be certain?

Religion has something to do with our faith and how we apply our faith to our lifestyle. You cannot argue with someone about their faith. You might as well be playing rock paper scissors in the mirror. They will always have something to say, and the bottom line is their faith. Once they share about their faith, all evidences are meaningless. If our mind is set to a certain standard dictated by our religion, it may not encompass the whole truth. After all, religion is made by man. No man can ever know the truth to everything. If we can, we could be gods ourselves. These rituals, practices, doctrines, books, and churches are built by man, just so we could live according to the artificial truth. But the tragic truth is that we have become close-minded due to religion. Judgemental. Racist. Sexist. Or any label that has the word bias written all over it.

But if you come to think of it, these supernatural beings are essential to the sanity of humankind. From them, people believe that they could receive strength, wisdom, love, and provisions. If they do wrong, they will be punished. If they love, they will be loved in return. If they obey, they will be given rewards. If they believe, they could share the bliss of afterlife. If they serve, they will be blessed. If they do not have any idea how to run their lives, they could just trust it all in the hands of their god. They turn to their gods for their lack of strength and wisdom. Because people are not perfect, it is comforting to know that there is someone more powerful and knowledgeable, who controls the universe and the future. Nothing can hurt in believing in god. There is nothing to lose, but more to gain.

Going back to the story of the Twiloans, everything made sense when the little Twiloan said that there is an object. If they were to see the reality in the eyes of an Earthling, his theory is certainly correct. After all, as a rule of economy, the more simple the explanation, the more plausible it becomes. So the others have accepted it. But they were not satisfied. Out of curiosity and their thirst for the truth, they try to alter it, wanting to discover more and more about this object which they cannot see. If they were to continue to argue about it, they would not arrive to a single detailed conclusion, because everyone cannot see this object. What use is a guess without actually having to verify it? There will always be a high chance that you could have guessed it wrongly. The more you limit yourself and be as specific as possible, the more you become close-minded. Sometimes it isn’t even necessary.

No one can truly know the real nature of god. What it is, what it could do. You could spend your lifetime figuring out the nature of god, how to be like it, or how to persuade people to believe in it. But everything will be meaningless unless you use it to live your life to the fullest. To discern the right from the wrong. To love. To forgive. To be selfless. To be purposeful. To be happy. What use is a church? The Bible? The Q’uran? A shrine? A saint? A homily? A ritual? A communion? A prayer? The use is up to you.

Searching for the truth beyond what our minds can comprehend is elusive. This is all thought. Anyone can be right, anyone can be wrong. It’s all about perspective. The truth lies on what make sense to your life. You can make your own belief, and follow it ‘til the end. Or, you can stick to a belief, and follow it ‘til the end. Either way, what matters is the result. Have you become a better person? Did your principles lead you to a life worth living? Have you found the truth for yourself? Have you found yourself?

The best way is to believe. If that doesn’t make sense, believe in something else. If that turns out to be wrong, find something else to believe in. Be humble and change your perspective, because human beings are not always right. Believe until you have eliminated most of the false things. After all, you have a lifetime as an experimental period. That is an exceedingly enough time for any person to make sense of his life, don’t you think? Just trust your heart and your mind will guide you.

Until then, do not be afraid to believe.