Science and Nature’s Re-Enchantment

It’s not merely that certain aspects of our world remain inaccessible due to insufficient data. There are countless minor inquiries we’ll never resolve, such as the precise number of cells in your esophagus at a specific moment. That isn’t the type of mystery I’m referring to; instead, I’m addressing the profound question of why anything exists at all.

This enigma can never be fully rationalized, as scientific analysis explains phenomena by introducing further concepts. This approach shifts focus from the core mystery to practical interests centered on manipulating the events that have come to pass for our benefit. Understanding the intricate connections and potential developments under various conditions allows us to leverage these insights with sufficient creativity and resources.

Yet, none of this pragmatic advancement, societal progress, or humanistic ambition confronts the stark reality of nature’s patterns or the seemingly indifferent forces we exploit. In fact, as science and technology become increasingly adept at taming the wild, revealing nature’s impersonal and mechanistic aspects, the existential mystery becomes even more pronounced.

Scientific exploration is perpetual, as each discovery leads to new questions. By objectifying phenomena and offering reductive explanations, we find ourselves in a cycle of needing further clarification. Without such clarity, our explanations risk becoming repetitive or ambiguous.

The universe, as depicted by science, never appears entirely necessary, as if its foundations were inherently obvious and could not have been otherwise. When theoretical physicists refer to complex mathematical frameworks suggesting a timeless or infinite universe, they transition from scientific inquiry to philosophical or theological territory, despite the rigorous nature of mathematical formalism.

The Ghosts in Nature's Machine

Where, then, are the hidden complexities within nature’s machinery? They surround us, waiting to be acknowledged. To recognize them, we simply need to adjust our viewpoint. We must temper our arrogance and aggression, halting our objectification momentarily, and refrain from imposing our utilitarian perspectives on the inherently inhuman aspects of nature.

By shedding these biases, we can access an existential viewpoint reminiscent of our early cognitive development when we first became self-aware and began to form symbolic cultures.

Initially, as we recognized that our environment existed independently, we developed an animistic perspective that ascribed mental and social constructs to the natural world. This perspective was somewhat justified, given the multitude of life forms inhabiting our planet. However, this modeling of life on Earth also served as a surrogate for understanding the vast cosmos.

Prehistoric animists likely focused on the perceived social interactions of local natural forces and processes.

As the environment underwent a gradual disillusionment through the rise of theistic religions, which eventually succumbed to modern objectification and secularism, we faced a more profound existential reality. Today, we encounter nature in all its untamed wildness. By stripping away both theistic and pragmatic projections, we return to a state of childlike wonder. We become observers and creators, contemplating nature’s aesthetic qualities with detached curiosity and playful creativity.

The myth of the given resurfaces with vigor. In empiricism, this myth suggests that stimuli present raw data to an unstructured mind, free from biases. Critics argue that no such "givens" exist, as our cognitive architecture inherently influences our perception at every level. We cannot escape our tendency to view the environment as filled with opportunities for human benefit. Thus, human thought is invariably shaped by pragmatic considerations.

In essence, the notion of enlightenment—the ability to transcend our evolutionary functions—seems unattainable.

However, this idea is misguided. While it’s true that our brains process information based on their structure, we can still abstract from that framework by recognizing it for what it is. We can conceptualize the strangeness of our environment and appreciate what it means to encounter something that hasn’t yet been interpreted through our cognitive lens. Even though we naturally project much onto our experiences to relate to them, we can temporarily set that aside in our imagination, akin to how we immerse ourselves in a novel by suspending our disbelief.

The Performance of Enlightenment

We can practice enlightenment by envisioning what it might be like to exist as something other than a clever mammal interacting with the environment, interpreting rocks and trees not merely as resources for exploitation. Children often perceive their surroundings as a vast playground, engaging with the world in a magical, playful manner.

An enlightened individual, however, views everything as alien and devoid of human-centric significance, burdened by a more sobering outlook shaped by scientific understanding and philosophical skepticism. This sage recognizes the universe's indifference to human affairs, even while acknowledging their inherent anthropocentric tendencies due to human cognition. Yet, the power of imagination enables this sage to perceive reality differently.

From this enlightened vantage point, the world does seem given—not necessarily given to us in a human-centered manner, but rather existing independently of our instrumental interpretations. Without grand theistic or cosmological narratives, the natural world reveals itself in its aesthetic form, appearing astonishingly as entities that represent nothing.

The fundamental mystery of existence—why there is something rather than nothing—infuses every experience with aesthetic significance, from the sensation of rain to the chill of air, to the desire for nourishment. The world becomes strange and, thus, haunted, as our pragmatic knowledge and desires fade away, replaced by an enlightened imagination that questions the universality of our cognitive approaches. We grasp our existential reality by setting aside convenient forms of doubt, allowing us to appreciate the inherent strangeness of existence.

This realization mirrors a state of Edenic innocence, where play is eternal—not because we evolved to play, but because our instrumental reasoning is as much about us as it is about the world around us. Despite our understanding of natural systems, the total cause of existence eludes reductive, exploitative thinking.

The overarching cause that encompasses all interconnectedness would explain why anything exists at all. However, the sage experiences the urgency of this metaphysical inquiry by perceiving only the aesthetic qualities of things—their colors, shapes, and sizes. These manifestations are as whimsical as a child's game, liberated from commitments to evolutionary or pragmatic frameworks that give meaning to our experiences.

The sage revels in the alienation, intoxicated by the appreciation of nature’s inherent mystery and its inexplicable qualities.

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