Think First, Pray Second
This level has remained roughly consistent for the past three decades.
Neil deGrasse Tyson was right in recently saying, “We need to ‘Make America Smart Again’.”
And we need to start by addressing our own cultural legacies that lead to malconformity.
. . . . .
For centuries, the pious among us have dedicated about 14% of their calendar days to God. 1 out of every 7. I assume the percentage is higher for the superpious.
That is a powerful cultural legacy.
One day a week is dedicated to listening to, reading, studying, and honoring one book.
From a young age, children are taught that this book is true.
Before children can read properly, they can recite prayers . Before they can write properly, they can sing about the little light within their fingers that they wish to make shine, presumably like ET.
This book, they are taught, is our guide to enter the glorious kingdom of heaven and avoid the burning confines of hell.
It is not something to question. It is something to believe. Without logic. Without reason. Without evidence.
For centuries, it was believed that this book not only explained our morality and purpose, but it also was our basis for understanding our physical world.
. . . . .
The understanding of our physical universe, thereby starting to unravel the Bible and God, started in the 17th century when Galileo questioned the geocentric model with Copernican heliocentrism.
Later that century, Newton added the explanation of gravity.
In the 19th century, Darwin proposed a profound shift in our understanding of the origin of species.
In the 20th century, Watson and Crick provided us with DNA and Willard Libby developed carbon dating.
And just last year, we had our first recording of gravitational waves. Something that was proposed by Einstein a century ago.
In the last four centuries, then, we have learned more about the creation of the universe and the origin of man than in the entire history of human civilization. From science.
And yet, 40% of people in the United States continue to believe that the universe, our planet, and man were created within the last 10,000 years. Because, God.
I wonder if this could at all be influenced by 14% of their days.
. . . . .
The average US state requires 180 days of school per year. For arguments sake, let’s say kindergarten and four years of university each require the same. 17 years. 180 days per year. 3,060 days.
The average American lives 78 years. 28,470 days. 14% of that (1/7) = 3,985 days.
3,985 days going to church. 3,060 days going to school.
The average American is asked to pray 30% more than they are asked to learn. Asked to have faith 30% more than they are asked to have facts.
This is a powerful cultural legacy.
. . . . .
Within the academic world, no secondary or post-secondary school would be allowed to use math books from 2,000 years ago. Not even 500 years ago. The same could be said for any other science, language, or history text.
If you insisted on using centuries-old texts, at best, no one would take you seriously. At worst, you might be committed.
The reason we do this, of course, is that we know that it is in our best interests to have the most inclusive amount of knowledge possible, up to the current day, as a baseline for moving forward. This is the reason society continues to advance.
A 21st-century doctor could not treat an AIDS patient using the medical theories of Hippocrates.
And yet, the average person spends 30% more time dedicated to repeatedly absorbing information from a book that was written centuries ago.
. . . . .
Our 21st-century morals and values have been shaped by our gains in knowledge of the past few centuries.
If we want to continue to advance as a society, if we want to ‘Make America Smart Again’, we need to spend those 14% of our days, and then some, learning with 21st-century knowledge.
We need to think first, pray second (if you so choose).
It is the knowledge of many books that will help us advance, not solely the faith of one.
That is a cultural legacy worth passing on.
