This is a very weird question, so no worries if y’all don’t have great answers because I have exactly zero answers myself.
I’ve been thinking recently about how I am a dedicated ML, and do subscribe to materialism. But I also have a spiritual tinge to me, one that was pretty fired up by psychedelic use and the listening to some Buddhist audios along with Duncan Trussell and Alan Watts.
I guess I’m just wondering if there’s any serious contradictions by subscribing to MLMZT while also getting a little deeper into the metaphysical aspect of philosophy? I have always found the Buddhist outlook and the lenses that I look at life through propelled by psychedelic use very useful, interesting, motivating, and just fun.
Like, I can recognize when there’s people just saying extremely vague things and selling a “get enlightened NOW” course for $999.99, so don’t get the idea that I’m like falling into some culty shit. I just enjoy the hope-core, insightful/philosophical takes that don’t seem to fall directly in line with Marxism.
The Egg story (Kurg video on YT ironically enough, the Gates funded channel) being an example, or Duncan Trussells “The Midnight Gospel” (which I haven’t actually watched but just saw the one famous clip of the mother being sucked away into death as she talked about the ego, reincarnation, the universe just being love, etc.)
Interestingly, I actually got involved with Marxism originally partly because of psychedelic use and the shock it sent through my philosophical/world outlook.
Anyways yap over, THIRD PARAGRAPH IS THE MEAT OF THE POST!!! thx in advance <3
It is not a topic that I have seriously looked into so I will just spew my opinion and I welcome corrections. Spirituality has existed in many forms throughout history. In various shapes and forms, spirituality has been ubiquitous across all civilisations that I know of.
Some iterations of it can be anti-materialist. Like the conception of the spirit or soul in Hinduism where there is a cycle of birth death and rebirth is something I find pretty BS. It has also been used as a tool to uphold the caste system, where the lower cost folks would be told that their systemic oppression, which they are subjected to by the upper castes including Brahmins, was a result of whatever they did in their past lives and if they were good slaves maybe they would be born in a higher caste in the next cycle.
Following the renaissance and the valorisation of capitalism, science went through somewhat of a honeymoon phase. When Newton was able to figure out the laws of nature to such an extent that the movements of celestial bodies could be predicted fairly accurately, when Einstein unraveled the cosmic fabric in such depths that phenomena that had not been so far observed could be predicted correctly, one could only dream what would come next. It seemed that humans had truly comquered nature. It seemed like the universe would make itself clear to us once we tore through the onion of existence until we found the last indivisible unit of being from which we would construct of a model of the universe which would answer the questions we didn’t know we had.
However, science has since slowed down. In the name of innovation we have things like LLMs, bitcoin, Bill Gates proposing that we sprinkle the atmosphere with reflective particles to avert global warming with dubious consequences. The human genome has been sequenced but the Western world cannot figure out how to engorge themselves with red meat without giving themselves colon cancer or setting the planet ablaze. Science has progressed in important ways but understandably not at the same pace as earlier. That is just the law of diminishing returns. Or maybe the scientific community is not asking the correct questions. Whatever I am too dumb to figure out the problem anyway.
In the eye of this storm lies our burden of our consciousness. The whats, whys and hows of it are still extremely open ended. Science has been a disappointment in this regard so far. As things are it is not clear whether science, at least as we know it, is even capable of telling me why I feel like a formless blob of sentience puppeteering the bag of meat and bones that is my body. I think spirituality is very important to come to terms with stuff like this. It still has a role to play.
I agree with basically everything you said here. And just to specify again I am not falling into a spirituality or religion where I rely on it or allow it to alter my actions or prevent me from doing something I know is good in the real world. I’m merely experimenting with it in thought and using what I can to appreciate the world and universe around me, to think, to love, etc.
As you said, conceptualize the formless blob of sentience puppeteering the bag of meat and make sense (even incorrectly) of some things temporarily to keep me sane.
Smh/j
I think the reason science slowed down is there is no longer a profit incentive. Back in the day you could become rich by inventing the new thing, now the government does it in an overpriced way and hands it over to existing corporations to slightly increase profits. Capitalism was a great engine of science, but it wore out as the surplus capital piled up.
An interesting question is how religion will evolve into communism. Since feudal times there’s been Christian communism, but what will stuff like that look like when the proletariat is in charge?
I agree our understanding of consciousness is lacking, and something like meditation can improve it, but what you say can lead to the conclusion that there is a “ghost in the machine,” which is anti-materialist.
Sorry but I am not following here. First of all I don’t understand what ghost in the machine means in this context. Secondly I am not sure which part of what I said you are referring to here.
Sorry, I’m referring to the last paragraph. It could be taken to mean that consciousness can only be explained by metaphysical means, and is beyond science. “The ghost in the machine” is a phrase that describes Cartesian dualism where a soul or soul like thing is said to inhabit a physical body from beyond the material world.
I meant to say that the way I described it is one way to perceive it, not the correct one of course. It can seem that way at times, especially when our consciousness sort of dissociates from the physical part of our being. Science has not come close to explaining what features of our neurology make consciousness happen and other such questions which I cannot fathom. Spirituality is not a drop-in replacement for hard scientific analysis but it can be useful when it grapple with questions about our sense of purpose, staying motivated, sane, contended in the chaos that surrounds us, our sense of connection with our loved ones and so on. Science as we study it leads to answers that teeter on the precipice of individualistic nihilism.
I agree
My take is influenced by various and contradictory things, but I can attempt an explanation. Humans can never experience the universe as it “really is.” Our brains are a product of evolution, and our senses are not “correct,” they are just useful for survival. We have no metaphysical “control” of our thoughts, they are the product of a natural process. Our thoughts are largely spontaneous, which you’ll notice if you meditate. Thus, it is possible to tune into one’s senses to a greater or lesser extent, but it is no more “real” either way.