The Threat Of Freedom And The Forgotten Value Of Being Powerless

“Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God.” — Martin Luther

Newsflash: sometimes, I can’t get what I want.

Let’s envision getting what I want as a two-step process:

1) Discover what the cause-effect relationships that govern reality are.

2) Figure out how set the right cause-effect relationships in motion.

At step one, I can’t attain my objectives due to a lack of knowledge. If I don’t understand how reality works, I can’t identify what it is that I need to do to reach my goals. If I set out to build a house, then I need to comprehend something about gravity to make an adequate design.

At step two, I can’t reach my goals because I’m incapable of executing the tasks that need to be done. I might know what is required, but lack the skills to successfully perform the necessary actions. Although I understand gravity, I am not able to build a spaceship (or a house, for that matter).

The solution?

Science.

All hail science

At step one, science fills knowledge gaps: it finds out how reality functions so that I can recognize how to manipulate it to get…