Scientifical Americans by Sharon A. Hill

Author:Sharon A. Hill
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland
Published: 2017-10-27T04:00:00+00:00

Personal Values

ARIG participants express their personal value systems in their activities. Science should ideally by “valueless” in the sense that no particular value, except knowledge, guides the outcome. When values become enmeshed in scientific discussions, those discussions often become unresolvable and lead to animosity. A perfect example of a values-laden social issue that can’t be resolved is that of abortion. No amount of scientific facts will be able to resolve issues that are tied irrevocably to personal values and beliefs. The influence of values is also evident in the context of science and the paranormal.

Early in the history of professional science, some scientists rejected the idea of materialism—the tenet that says all phenomena, including that of the mind, can be attributed to physical aspects of nature—and felt that a human was more than just matter. He also had a soul, conscience, or moral sense. When scientists studied psychic phenomena to find evidence of life after death, they insisted that there were forces yet to be discovered. Even at this time, some wanted the boundaries of science extended to include “supernatural” or non-material observations (Lyons 2009). The scientific community rejected this deviation and the rigid framework was retained. The same call to soften this structure is still heard today with allegations, especially from parapsychologists, that some phenomena are beyond the scope of reductionist science, and that it is folly to reduce everything to natural laws, matter, and mathematics.

Alternative ideas about the natural world that were less than scientific became popular in the 1960s. These new fields, as alternatives to orthodox science explanations, were a means to connect to personal values systems (Thurs 2007). When scientific methods did not provide the answers that were sought, proponents found other ways of framing the subject, frequently venturing into supernatural explanations (Denzler 2003). Examples of this are abundant in New Age spirituality—astrology, astral projection, spiritual enlightenment, expansion of consciousness. Blended ideas of natural laws and spiritual suggestions permeated the UFO community in particular. Feel-good spirituality also seeped into concepts about hauntings and mystery creatures where psychic and trans-dimensional themes emerged. Aliens became our space brothers trying to warn us of coming disasters. Bigfoot became a person of the forest connected to nature, like humans used to be long ago. While this volume is not an appropriate place to address this complex subtopic, there is much to consider about the spiritual aspect of those who may replace traditional religious practices with paranormal beliefs. (Consider that the basis of most religions is supernatural, but we typically don’t think of religion as institutionalized supernatural belief.) Most people are invested in a belief system that gives their lives special meaning. They may be seeking an answer for some dissatisfaction in life. Some scholars suggest paranormal beliefs are adopted in response to a rejection or resistance to orthodox religious practice or rigid scientific materialism. Others say people turn towards fringe and occult ideas because they are disenchanted by science and a scientific world view. Narrative power is placed back in the hands of the individual instead of some institution (Jenzen & Munt 2013; Bader et al.

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