Believing in Magic

When I refer to magic here, I mean it literally. Like, in the Hogwarts sense.
I believe that creativity is a force of enchantment—not entirely human in its origins.
I heard a respected neurologist say in an interview, “The creative process may seem magical, but it is not magic.” With all due respect, I disagree. I believe the creative process is both magical and magic.
– Gilbert, Elizabeth. Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

Liz Gilbert believes in magic. Literally.

I support her in her beliefs — not because I think they’re true, I do not — but because beliefs exist for important reasons, even if we don’t all agree on what is and is not true.

I consider myself science-based. Specifically, I’m an engineer at heart. In part, this means I’ll believe anything for which there is clear, objective, reproducible, incontrovertible proof.

Want me to believe your brand of woo (meaning magic, the spirit world, and so many other things that fall into the category of “odd” or just “weird shit”)? Provide proof and I’ll happily believe right alongside you. Really.

I’m not alone in this approach to life. It’s part philosophy, part mental model, part a structure for organizing my thoughts, and in part a mechanism for staying sane.

Many people who believe as I do will quickly, and often enthusiastically, poo-poo those who believe otherwise. You believe in some form of woo? You must be uneducated or stupid or delusional or brainwashed or many other derogatory characterizations. This reaction is very common and very destructive.

So is the “you poor dear, let me correct your thinking” response and its evangelical variants that are then often applied. Feeling superior, someone wants to “help” you see the truth as they see it so that you, like them, can be “correct”. It rarely never works.

Within limits, my approach has changed over the years. It’s not unlike a quote (apparently mis)attributed to Keanu Reeves:

I’m at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you’re right. Have fun.

Our beliefs are a defense mechanism against a scary world. They’re our way of making sense out of the incomprehensible. They’re part comfort, part explanation, and part community.

And that’s true regardless of whether or not they’re technically correct.

When I see what some people believe, particularly if it seems rather outlandish to me, hard as it might be I try to keep that in mind. This person gains some kind of comfort and community by holding those beliefs. Those beliefs make the world a little less scary for them. Those beliefs help them make sense of a very confusing world.

Just as my own beliefs do for me.

That we believe different things — sometimes very different things — is immaterial. We’re all doing the best we can in a scary and incomprehensible world.

Now, I did say “within limits” earlier.

That your belief might help and comfort you is wonderful. Truly. Whatever it might be.

If your belief harms others, then we have a problem. Depending on the harm, it might be a very serious problem. And yes, as I write this, there seems to be a lot of harm in progress based on a variety of beliefs I consider anywhere between nonsensical to downright evil.

But that’s what makes this all so complicated.

It would be easy to fall into the trap of believing anyone who disagrees with us, who doesn’t believe what we believe, must be … well, somewhere between nonsensical and downright evil. And that’s just not true.

Some may be. Clearly, some are.

But the difference is what others do with their different beliefs. If they live a happy, peaceful life, contributing to society (or perhaps not), but their form of woo harms no one, then … well, as the quote said: have fun! Believe what works for you, even if it makes zero sense to me.

But if it harms others, we need to look more closely.

Even then it’s not simple. What “harm” means is closely intertwined with your beliefs. If you believe in hell, for example, then “harm” might include anything that encourages someone to take part in behavior that would cause their being damned. Others, however, might believe that the actions taken to “protect” from damnation are themselves even more harmful.

I never said this was easy. There’s no black or white here.

But I do feel like we spend too much time arguing about the shades of gray that are ultimately inconsequential. We’re simply too quick to jump into the lizard brain “like me good, not like me bad” way of thinking. I’m sure it saved us as we hunted on the savannah, but we’ve evolved far past that by now.

I think. I hope.