Modernity has forced the human spirit into a tunnel - is the light at the end the way back to Paradise, or an unstoppable train coming to end the human experiment?
Come join my Patreon!
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Original Video Credit (Kenan Institute for Ethics, 2002):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obeI1ea5ox4
Music of Tibet (1967)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Tibet_(album)
Why Religion Matters (2001)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25885.Why_Religion_Matters
Books and People
Summer of the Gods - Edward J. Larson (Scopes Trial)
The Origins of Love and Hate (Unfinished) - Ian D. Suttie, cited by John Bowlby
The Soul of the American University by George M. Marsden
Chapters
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:03:02) Main Talk, Skip Intro
Outline
This talk features Dr. Huston Smith, a distinguished professor of religion and philosophy, discussing themes from his work, particularly relevant to his then-forthcoming book "Why Religion Matters." He posits that modernity, driven by the success of the scientific method, has inadvertently led to "scientism"—a worldview that limits reality to the material and measurable. This scientific worldview, he argues, has shunted the human spirit into a metaphorical "tunnel," characterized by a loss of transcendence, the sense of a greater, qualitative reality that was central to traditional religious outlooks.
Smith identifies higher education, the media, and the law as institutions reinforcing this tunnel by promoting skepticism towards non-scientific truths and marginalizing religious perspectives in public life, creating an environment less hospitable to the human spirit compared to the "enchanted garden" of traditional views.
Despite this confinement, Dr. Smith sees potential "light at the end of the tunnel," pointing to several hopeful trends. These include the "fairness revolution" advancing minority and gender rights, a shift in psychology towards understanding human nature as fundamentally seeking communion and love (challenging Freudian drives), and developments in physics and cognitive science that suggest limitations to the purely materialist worldview and acknowledge realities potentially beyond space-time or current comprehension. He contrasts these positive signs with his concern that biology remains somewhat stuck in a reductive Darwinian framework, often polarizing the discussion unnecessarily. Throughout the lecture and Q&A, Smith emphasizes the enduring importance of the transcendent perspective offered by world religions for a complete understanding of reality and human flourishing.
Keywords
Huston Smith, Religion, Philosophy, Transcendence, Modernity, Scientism, Scientific Worldview, Traditional Worldview, Human Spirit, Tunnel Metaphor, Higher Education, Media Criticism, Law, Native American Church, Peyote, Fairness Revolution, Human Nature, Physics, Cognitive Science, Consciousness, Darwinism, Why Religion Matters, Multi-phonic Chanting.
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By William Engels
4.9
4040 ratings
Modernity has forced the human spirit into a tunnel - is the light at the end the way back to Paradise, or an unstoppable train coming to end the human experiment?
Come join my Patreon!
https://patreon.com/c/HemlockPatreon
Original Video Credit (Kenan Institute for Ethics, 2002):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obeI1ea5ox4
Music of Tibet (1967)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Tibet_(album)
Why Religion Matters (2001)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25885.Why_Religion_Matters
Books and People
Summer of the Gods - Edward J. Larson (Scopes Trial)
The Origins of Love and Hate (Unfinished) - Ian D. Suttie, cited by John Bowlby
The Soul of the American University by George M. Marsden
Chapters
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:03:02) Main Talk, Skip Intro
Outline
This talk features Dr. Huston Smith, a distinguished professor of religion and philosophy, discussing themes from his work, particularly relevant to his then-forthcoming book "Why Religion Matters." He posits that modernity, driven by the success of the scientific method, has inadvertently led to "scientism"—a worldview that limits reality to the material and measurable. This scientific worldview, he argues, has shunted the human spirit into a metaphorical "tunnel," characterized by a loss of transcendence, the sense of a greater, qualitative reality that was central to traditional religious outlooks.
Smith identifies higher education, the media, and the law as institutions reinforcing this tunnel by promoting skepticism towards non-scientific truths and marginalizing religious perspectives in public life, creating an environment less hospitable to the human spirit compared to the "enchanted garden" of traditional views.
Despite this confinement, Dr. Smith sees potential "light at the end of the tunnel," pointing to several hopeful trends. These include the "fairness revolution" advancing minority and gender rights, a shift in psychology towards understanding human nature as fundamentally seeking communion and love (challenging Freudian drives), and developments in physics and cognitive science that suggest limitations to the purely materialist worldview and acknowledge realities potentially beyond space-time or current comprehension. He contrasts these positive signs with his concern that biology remains somewhat stuck in a reductive Darwinian framework, often polarizing the discussion unnecessarily. Throughout the lecture and Q&A, Smith emphasizes the enduring importance of the transcendent perspective offered by world religions for a complete understanding of reality and human flourishing.
Keywords
Huston Smith, Religion, Philosophy, Transcendence, Modernity, Scientism, Scientific Worldview, Traditional Worldview, Human Spirit, Tunnel Metaphor, Higher Education, Media Criticism, Law, Native American Church, Peyote, Fairness Revolution, Human Nature, Physics, Cognitive Science, Consciousness, Darwinism, Why Religion Matters, Multi-phonic Chanting.
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