Terence Mckenna: On UFOs and science
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the full talk:
http://mckenna.psychedelic-library.org/Terence%20Mckenna%20-%20Angels%20Aliens%20%26%20Archetypes%20rc.mp3
related quotes:
“There’s science and then there’s reason and science has at times used reason although at times its conclusions have been fairly unreasonable. Reason is a universal method for dealing with information, whereas science is an extremely culturally conventionalized method. I think there’s a role for reason and the razors of logic but this is a branch of formal philosophy, not a branch of science; science appropriates everything to itself and then we tend to genuflect before it but what we really need is a relativistic approach to the true scope of science which is considerably less than it has claimed for itself. In the 20th century, it’s claimed to be the arbiter of truth in all domains when in fact it’s simply the study of those phenomena so crude that the restoration of their initial condition causes the same thing to repeat itself, and that’s a very small part of the sum total of the phenomenal universe.”
Terence Mckenna
“People are so alienated from their own soul that when they meet their soul they think it comes from another star system.”
Terence McKenna
“I loathe science and am always keane to attack it in most situations (…) but I love reason and I’m perfectly aware of the difference.”
Terence Mckenna
thanks to loversandmystics
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Duration : 0:4:19
[youtube nuxSC0DfBUk]
Tags: 2012, christianity, dmt, materialism, mckenna, mushrooms, psychedelics, science, terence, ufo, ufos, uncertainty
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
“I have HOPE for …
“I have HOPE for the future of humanity, yet this is not something that can in anyway be measured.”
That’s actually incorrect. It can be measured in terms of brain chemistry, since that’s all it really is. A good example of this is how psychologists know and understand that people who are depressed have an imbalance of neuro chemicals, and this is because they have an expression of a certain gene. All that is now required is a better understanding of the brain, and that is happening now.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
“Are you suggesting …
“Are you suggesting that science is the only method by which we can understand the Universe?”
Can you give me a logical, observable, and testable different method by which we can understand the universe in greater/deeper detail?
It’s sad, because science is currently the “only” known method by which we can understand reality. If you think that it’s not good enough, then I advise you to come up with another method, otherwise, your accusations of arrogance only shows your ignorance.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
What you are …
What you are suggesting is absurd! I have HOPE for the future of humanity, yet this is not something that can in anyway be measured. Do i not therefore have this hope? I awake in the morning and know that i am awake, i have no need of empirical analysis or measurement to tell me the reality of such experiences. Are we to deny the validity of our own perception and being simply because it does not adhere to the strict protocols of scientific investigation?
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
it is arrogant on …
it is arrogant on the part of the scientists? It only goes to show that people who call the scientist’s arrogant have no idea of the meaning of the word. It’s arrogant to call the knowledgeable educated scientists who are rigorously trained to study phenomena closed minded, when you yourself can’t even conceptualize the numerous probabilities, mathematics, and knowledge required to shoot down such bold ertions from the uneducated.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
continued from: “As …
continued from: “As our understanding grows, so does our acceptance to many new ideas/new models of reality. ”
As long as there isn’t any real testable empirical evidence, then there isn’t any thing else to say on the subject of UFO’s. If we’re going to allow uneducated people (not referring to the man on the video necessarily), who have no understanding of aeronautical eng, physics, chemistry, or any credible field draw conclusions, based on no evidence, then how can you say that it is
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
“Anomolous …
“Anomolous phenomena frustrate science because they reveal it’s limitations. As a result science denies their existence. ”
No, that is completely and totally incorrect. There are many mysteries that are still unsolved in chemistry/physics/biology, and when the phenomena is actually empirically observed, science doesn’t deny it’s existence. What it does do is with hold any conclusions on the phenomena, and critically scrutinizes anyone with a baseless claim on the phenomena.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
Correct. If there …
Correct. If there isn’t any sufficient evidence (a way to measure the phenomena/observe it empirically) then there is no good reason to believe that it exists. So what if we didn’t have a means to measure the nuclear reactions occurring in the sun during the neolithic era. As our understanding grows, so does our acceptance to many new ideas/new models of reality.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
Agreed. Yet why …
Agreed. Yet why does science not apply such stringent processes of evaluation to UFOs? It simply denies their existence outright, despite evidence to the contrary. It is because the institution of science will not accept that there are somethings that will not yeild to scientific analysis. Are you suggesting that science is the only method by which we can understand the Universe? I would think that is the height of arrogance.
“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall”
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
I’m not sure what u …
I’m not sure what u r refering to when u say “nothing”. I will ume u mean the UFOs. Are you suggesting that something only exists if it can be measured? If so i fear you are in error. Did elecricity exist in the Jurassic Era? Yes. Could it be measured? No. Does it therefore follow then that elecricity only came into existence with the advent of the ability to measure it? Anomolous phenomena frustrate science because they reveal it’s limitations. As a result science denies their existence.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
He was, and we are …
He was, and we are sadder for his loss, but if what he thought showed us anything, is that all we have to do is engage our minds, and we can make that next step if we try.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
The man was a …
The man was a genius.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
“Just because …
“Just because something can’t be measured doesn’t mean it dosen’t exist.”
If something has the same qualities as “nothing”, then why say it exists at all?
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
“sciences inability …
“sciences inability to recognize limitations in its methodology with regard to anomalous phenomena.”
There have been many examples of phenomena that have had scientist’s in their time baffled, but through the stringent process of science, we’ve come to understand it more accurately. It wasn’t the limitations of Science, but of the Scientist’s themselves.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
Incorrect. One of …
Incorrect. One of the things I listed predated the scientific method, and that was the house, and if you want to argue specifics, electricity (but they didn’t know what the to do with it). But everything we have now has been greatly improved, by science.Technology in any form has to do with trial and error, which in essence is what science is; figure out what works through testing. We’ve just perfected the method of testing in the last hundred years.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
Inventions such as …
Inventions such as the examples u gave have more to do with the evolution of technology rather than science per se. Scientific method has enhanced technological development, yet science itself is relatively recent. The emergence of technology predates science by several millenia. Mckenna’s criticism is with sciences inability to recognize limitations in its methodology with regard to anomalous phenomena. Just because something can’t be measured doesn’t mean it dosen’t exist.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
Science proves …
Science proves nothing? Then stop using your computer, car, electricity, house, etc etc. They you won’t be a hypocrite.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
I am a science guy. …
I am a science guy. I am always open to new ideas and beliefs. I believe it is very possible that there is something higher than what science can show us but I don’t know what to believe. If you reject rationality as we know it you can believe in anything that just feels good and to me that is delusion.
I’m not saying science is the be all and end all method of gathering information and wisdom but it is the only on that has observable results.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
I agree that …
I agree that cancers, pollution, etc. are side effects of modernization that need to be reduced. But the fact remains that from 1900 to today, science has increased the average lifespan from 36 to 70. Penicillin alone is worth the trade-off of higher cancer rates.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
”Science has given …
”Science has given us vaccines, computers, and penicillin; the scientific method has led to the discoveries of microorganisms, electricity, and DNA.” for what cost? cancer everywhere
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
Science proves …
Science proves nothing, it just evolves and has no ending. The cure is within you. Seek and you will find.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
WHO’S THE MAN
WHO’S THE MAN
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
I’m glad he’s …
I’m glad he’s criticizing elements of society, but does he really believe science is “nothing more than a pleasant metaphor”? Science has given us vaccines, computers, and penicillin; the scientific method has led to the discoveries of microorganisms, electricity, and DNA.
Don’t trash science as the pleasant metaphor, especially when you’re talking about goddesses and UFOs. Where would we be if science didn’t give the “thumbs down” to bloodletting, and a “thumbs up” to modern prenatal care?
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
wtf…is this …
wtf…is this supposed to be 15 seconds long? more context was needed.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
oh my gosh I love …
oh my gosh I love this. A lot of my friends are science students and it is driving me insane trying to discuss with them anything outside of their dogmatic scopes.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
YES more Mckenna, …
YES more Mckenna, if only he was still alive he would be blowing us away with more of his wisdom.