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How the lines between material and immaterial are blurring
Many believe that the dividing line between the religious and the non-religious, between theist and atheists, is defined by whether one believes in the immaterial as well as the material. Believing in “sky pixies” seems incredibly ignorant and naive to the clear-minded opponents of theism and religion. At least that is how they perceive themselves.
But there is a problem with this simplistic way of understanding reality. Current physical and cosmological theories now include the immaterial. Perhaps more than include it, more scientists and philosophers are coming to believe that nothing is material as we generally understand it. (See this post on physical eliminativism for an explanation). Whether one tends toward a denial of the reality of everything or not, current science allows for the immaterial, and recognizes that immaterial things can affect and interact with the material world.
Of course, this does not mean that most scientists are now jumping on board the sky pixie train, but it does mean that for some observers, like me, who enjoy speculations that connect the ideas of an “unseen realm” with the “seen realm” welcome this development.
Throughout human history and across the many diverse cultures and philosophies, humans have believed in an unseen realm. It seems in this increasingly…
