Writing this was quite an experience. I had more or less in
mind what I wanted to write, and a list of things that I wanted to
discuss, but quite frequently I ended up with something completely
different than what I had set out to write. Some parts almost
wrote themselves, others had to be dragged, and a few tried to run
away. I was quite surprised when I found that I ended up with more
than 15000 words. Still, it was fun.
Basically, I started writing to impose some order on my thoughts
about the subject, but I still don't know what made me go through
with it. I felt almost compelled to finish it. Once I even got up in
the middle of the night to type out a chapter.
None of this is intended to convince anyone that I am right. I hope this will make people think. If they do so, I'm quite happy. If they conclude that I'm a crackpot and that my opinion is a howler, so be it. Who knows, they might even be right. I don't consider it an issue worth fighting about.
"You can waste a whole lifetime, trying to be
What you think is expected of you, but you'll never be free..."-- Chris Rea, "Gone fishing"
While I was editing the previous chapter, I saw a TV
documentary that included interviews from the 1994
CSICOP convention. (CSICOP is the Committee for the
Scientific Investigation of Claims Of the Paranormal). When asked,
several prominent skeptics declared to be convinced that the human
mind came into existence by random coincidence, and that there is
no meaning to life whatsoever. And they were serious! They even
seemed prepared to argue or fight for days to defend their point
of view.
Yes, I empathically disagree with them. And I fail to understand
how they arrived at that conclusion. But that doesn't mean that
I'm right and they're wrong. It just means that we have different
opinions.
So let's discuss our differences. Let's consider how we
arrived at our different points of view. And if we find that,
after all, we still have different opinions, then let's agree
to disagree. Time will prove who is right.
We should not forget that all points of view are equal. General relativity applies here as well: we observe everything to be relative to our frame of reference, and all frames of reference are equally valid. Fighting about it might satisfy the ego, but it won't get you any closer to answering the questions.
To me, life has never been more interesting than it is now. May the same be true for you.