WHY | What it's all about

Why we should believe in magic
But first, I should probably clarify what I mean by “MAGIC” – it won’t be easy
According to Google, “Magic” is the power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.
That would seem to include the magic of magicians and — to some extent — our Bibles
Fortunately, that is NOT the “magic” I’m suggesting here
Unfortunately, I don’t actually have an effective definition for “magic” – so instead, I’ll point out a few EXAMPLES of (what I think are) magic
- Free will –IF REAL, free will defies the law of cause and effect
- Existence in general — LOGICALLY SPEAKING, NOTHING should exist
- Awareness — just think about it!!!
- My existence in particular — is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, and is the only thing that I know FOR SURE does actually exist…
About FREE WILL:
Most of us humans’ figure that we do have free will, in that our behavior is the result of external realities but also of OUR OWN TRAITS AND VALUES
The problem, however, is that our own ORIGINAL traits and values must have been determined by EXTERNAL REALITIES — we could hardly be responsible for our own traits and values BEFORE we even existed
Taking that into account, cause and effect SHOULD rule
In other words, our behavior would seem to be COMPLETELY determined by external realities — and if so, free will is simply not possible
In more other words — I can “PROVE” that there is no such thing as free will and that NO ONE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING…
However, I TEND TO BELIEVE IN FREE WILL ANYWAY!
Most likely, you do also
Either, we are wrong, or the “experts” are missing something important…
(I do have an apparent explanation)
If free will is real, you and I ARE simply “magical” — WE ARE SOMEHOW ABOVE THE LAWS OF CAUSE AND EFFECT
We are little Gods — perhaps, we are parts of God
Perhaps, we are parts of a “universal consciousness”
If we have free will, we are at least, LIKE little Gods — and, cause and effect DOES NOT rule!
And reality must, at least INCLUDE, some magic
Then, there’s EXISTENCE IN GENERAL:
I’m claiming that existence, itself, is magical
NOTHING existing would make PERFECT sense
NOTHING existing would require absolutely NO explanation…
Whereas, SOMETHING existing would require AN INFINITY OF EXPLANATIONS (if cause and effect does rules)
How could there be a FIRST cause — a cause that was not itself caused (if cause and effect rues)?
But also, how could there be an infinity of causes?
Again, I’m suggesting that cause and effect, somehow, DOES NOT RULE…
And, existence IN GENERAL is magical
We have a LONG way to go to understand existence – if, that is even possible
But Einstein said that time is an illusion
Maybe, that’s the KEY – maybe, “ALWAYS” is just part of the overall illusion…
Then there’s AWARENESS!!!
I could have said “consciousness,” but “AWARENESS!!!” captures the magic better
Hopefully, most everybody can FEEL that magic, though I’ll probably try to DESCRIBE it later
PERSONAL EXISTENCE is the critical example of magic, but also the hardest example to describe or explain — even harder than awareness
Note that, the “lower” animals seem to “TAKE MOST EVERYTHING FOR GRANTED” – I.E. we humans assume that the lower animals never (or, hardly ever) wonder about “how” or “why”
They appear to just REACT in whatever ways that they perceive to be in their own (or a loved one’s) best interest
Whereas, we humans DO wonder how and why about most everything
However there does seem to be something UTTERLY AMAZING about us that almost all of us humans do just take for granted
UNLESS WE’RE RELIGIOUS
That’s OUR OWN EXISTENCES — our own SELVES
I’ll try to explain
Supposedly, homo-sapiens have existed for 200,000 years and have produced about 100,000,000,000 (ONE-HUNDRED BILLION) examples (“selves”)
Assuming that each self can exist for only one finite time, there must be an infinity of POTENTIAL selves!
And, the PROBABILITY of me (or you) EVER EXISTING is virtually zero
And, the probability of me (or you) CURRENTLY existing is even less
In other words, it is VERY, VERY UNLIKELY that I (or you) exist for only one finite time!!!
You and I must exist either MANY, MANY times — or ALWAYS
Most likely, you and I are simply BASIC to reality, and do always exist (I’ll try to explain later)
Hitching a ride on Quantum Mechanics, you and I must be specific divisions of an infinitely divisible UNIVERSAL CONSCIOUSNESS (please look that one up!)
And, at the “BEGINNING OF TIME,” (if there WAS such a thing) we must ALL have been ONE
I suggest that ALMOST NO ONE recognizes this amazing aspect of his/her self because it is so hard to describe — consequently, so far, each of us needs to recognize it for his/her self
I’ll try to help, below…
WHERE (IN THE HELL!) DID I COME FROM?!!!
Did I exist in some other form before I was conceived?
Or, was I brand new?
So far, that might be the best I can do towards describing what is so amazing about my own existence…
And, please keep in mind my suggestion that we homo-sapiens. are only in our evolutionary “infancy,” not nearly as smart as we think we are — and fail to notice/realize at least SOMETHING critical about reality
So — I’m claiming that there is something amazing/magical about our own existences THAT ALMOST NO ONE NOTICES…
And, those who notice, don’t know how to describe it
Abraham Joshua Heschel (a Jewish genius) apparently DID notice, and called it “RADICAL AMAZEMENT”
But even Abraham couldn’t describe it well enough for me to be sure he and I were recognizing the same magic
These apparently magical facts must be largely RESPONSIBLE for our religions – for our tendency towards BELIEVING in magic and meaning
So, one of those FACTS that we should probably NOT take for granted, but do, is our own SELVES
When really analyzed, our own selves don’t seem to fit with what we think we know about reality…
And again, these facts end up supporting Religion…
We take our selves for granted — when our selves are the very last “things” that we SHOULD take for granted
Am I just one of the infinity of potential selves?
NOTHING existing would make perfect sense, whereas MY PARTICULAR EXISTENCE makes absolutely NO sense
Again, WHERE IN THE HELL DID I COME FROM, anyway?!
We’ve just taken existence and awareness for granted — but they’re nowhere near deserving of such
So, most of our public schools and universities in the West have been essentially DISCOUNTING religion — and in general, the more education we receive in the West, the LESS religious we become
I suggest that the reason this negation persists is that the serious evidence AGAINST belief is just much more OBVIOUS than is the serious evidence FOR belief (And once again, we humans are probably in our evolutionary infancy)
And then, the evidence FOR belief – once recognized – is almost impossible to discount
More to come

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MY BEST GUESSES (SO FAR)