I think we forget, as westerners who have backed themselves into the stifling corner of materialism, that we are a part of this vast system of the universe, and that we partake of the same nature and are much more harmoniously linked than at first is apparent. Yes, we get harangued constantly by the representatives of the technocracy, telling us that we are “made of star stuff” and that this is wonderment enough for anyone. And while I agree that this sentiment is inspiring to some degree, it seems to be informed by a fundamentally materialist approach to existence, one that accepts only the stimuli conducted to our brains by the vulgar senses of classical science.

You hear the talking heads remark often that, “science” deals with what can be observed, not with the immaterial. But this type of declaration, while true, implies a distinction between phenomena which are apprehensible to the physical senses and those which are not but nevertheless exist. And this distinction, or separation, does not exist, in my view. There is no supernatural, per-se, only that which to the classical senses appears completely to diverge from our common understanding. Limiting your interrogation of the world in which we live to those questions which can only be framed or contextualized by what you can see and hear, excludes a dimension of human experience which does not display itself to those senses.

It should be no surprise to anyone that some things are simply not within the power of the human eye to detect. But, moreover, it should be equally unsurprising that the eyes cannot be used at all when investigating such phenomena. Let me explain: I’ve heard people use the electromagnetic spectrum to frame criticisms of materialist views, saying something like, “Well, you can’t see infrared waves, but they are there.” And this, to me, is rudimentary at best. It fails to drive the point home that, even when you use a device like an infrared camera to “see” the infrared source, you are not actually perceiving infrared light. That’s impossible for the human eye to do. You are instead seeing representation of a single quality of that light that you can, in fact, detect. But you will never know what it looks like, ever.

The dimension of human experience that is beyond the classical senses is, truly and completely, beyond those senses. There is no “barometer” for non-physical energy (even calling it non-physical is not correct, but we have to use something to distinguish it); no device I can build that will translate the reverberations of eternity into a photograph you can examine, or a perfume you can smell. It is for this reason, the fact that detection of this kind involves development of a set of senses that are not used by most people, ever. And this is a laborious process. It is an undertaking to get most people to even accept that it’s possible long enough to experience something cool, much less get them to do the work. Alas, what to do but play the advocate.