The Myth of Objectivity

Science’s Core Myth

God (in the theist sense) is unnecessary to reach the gnostic nectar of scientific objectivity. But God’s throne is completely necessary.  

Faith in God’s perspective is the foundation of science.  This does not mean that God has to exist.  Rather, science requires the faith that, at some point, God’s perspective can be attained.  The ultimate goal of (positivist) science is a comprehensive understanding of the universe, the ability to look down from outside the cosmos and fully comprehend all mechanisms with the clarity of an outside observer.  Sometimes called a theory of everything, sometimes called God, this perspective is core to the scientific method.  

This is not to say that science is theistic.  Belief in God is not required to conduct good science.  However, every scientist has faith in objectivity, whether that faith is implicit or explicit.  There is the underlying assumption that outside their individual bias or limited perspective, there is always a comprehensive, discoverable answer.  Objectivity assumes that a perspective outside the universe can be achieved, and that this perspective is knowable.

There are a few approaches to this foundation.  Some may covet God’s throne for themselves, wishing to sit upon it and gain complete knowledge of the universe.  Such pursuits are atheistic, where God is vehemently rejected and humanity uplifted as the only candidate worthy of the throne.  Others may approach the throne with reverence, wishing to build a close relationship with the god they believe sits upon it.  Still others may strive with a mixed attitude, seeking to become one with this God; to taste the overwhelming sensations of gnosis.

Revealing this foundation should come as no surprise.  Science requires “how” questions to function, using them to determine the relationships between entities and avoiding the influence of the observer as much as possible.  All advancements in science seek to remove humanity from it, expunging bias and error through the use of computers and peer-review.  Fact is heralded as crystalized objectivity, the purest form of truth, a glimpse at the universe from the outside.  Facts update because they are a better form of that perspective, a cleaner lense for the all seeing eye.  Every time your “how” question can be answered accurately by the omniscient internet, science has done what it set out to do.  And yet who saw this answer you read on the wikipedia article?  Certainly not the researchers, they do everything in their power to remove their personal bias from their observations.  If the answer was the scientist’s personal perspective they wouldn’t have done their job.  It isn’t the scientist’s computers or tools, for they are only extensions of the scientist, or mechanisms to remove bias further.  Instead, it is the theories and models of objectivity, this grand matrix of thought that a single researcher is only a small part of.  These models and theories are all in the service of looking at the problem from the outside; from the throne of God.  

Science is Sacred 

This process should be celebrated.  Objectivity is a myth, and that is ok.  All syntheists, and Terrans by extension, understand that a myth is not a lie.  It is a powerful, useful, fruitful tool.  Objectivity does not exist, and it never will, but that does not make it any less useful.  No one will sit upon the throne to look back omnisciently upon the universe.  No one will finish science.  No one will be God to answer all our questions.  But striving for objectivity remains the best way we have of understanding the universe. We must have faith in it. 

Terrans embrace science as the most sophisticated way we have of discovering the universe.  Science is one of humanity’s most potent magics, and that deserves respect.  All beliefs should be founded in the best scientific understanding of the world, as it is presented by the scientific establishment.  Scientific facts should never conform to beliefs.  To force a fact into a belief is to violate it; to destroy its sacred status.  For objectivity is sacred, it is set aside by humanity for special purposes.  It is the perspective of the furthest and most supreme kind of god we can imagine.  To glimpse that perspective, however fleeting, is to transcend your eyes, fingers, and feelings; to touch a collective mind with the rest of humanity; to sit upon the divine throne. 

We made that throne, and it is beautiful.