2. Mysterium Tremendum

In the magazine MYSTERIUM TREMENDUM (and in the film feature), it is argued that the reason many individuals have a problem with a purely scientific exploration in philosophy and religion is because of a misunderstanding of the term “matter.” Explain his argument and feel free to either support it with additional material or critique it.


Many individuals have a problem with a purely scientific exploration in philosophy and religion is because of a misunderstanding of term "matter." film that helps: eliminative materialism

Some religious people feel the term "matter" contradicts the Bible nor insults their religion. They felt the term dehumanizes humans as just material. Mr. Lane asked undergraduate and graduate students, "how would you hypothetically feel if someone did indeed inform you that you were a body of pure unalloyed light?"  They agreed they would feel "boundless and happy." The thought we are all "beams of light" gives all a sense that we are all alike. The theory we are all "beams of light" makes us all equal. We may look different, however we are made of the same material. David Lanes asks another question, "how do we feel when we are told that we are just this stuff, just this body, just the re-composition of this world?" The students felt like they are basically nothing and feel depressed. If we are just stuff, we are truly not important as we are thought to be. We are just bodies, nothing more. 
Lane stated, "we tend to think that matter and spirit are opposites and that focusing on one discount the other and vice versa." The definitions of both are outdated and cause confusion. We need to find out the true meaning of matter and not associate with such a flat definition. Lane uses a tree to explain the term "matter." In the dictionary, a tree is described as, "a plant having a permanently woody main stem or trunk, ordinarily growing to a considerable height, and usually developing branches at some distance from the ground." In scientific sense, a tree is made up of millions of cells, which in themselves are made of molecules, which are comprised of atoms. Atoms give a better understanding of what matter actually is. All things are made of atoms. If you reconfigure atoms in a certain way, you will get another object. If your atoms were changed around, you would be the person next to you in class. Atoms are like Legos. When you move the Legos around, you get a different structure. 
Lane stated, "even when we get to the very core of matter, we find yet another layer and our understanding of what is actually going on turns indeterminate." We have not fully understood what is going on around us because there are a lot of hidden underpinnings. A lot of things are invisible to us; however, as time progresses as technology improves, the invisible turns visible.
The film, The Quantum Thinking,  asks what is real. When we observe objects you do not sufficiently define it because we do not fully understand it. As the film states, we are "invariably altering what we are examining." We form our own opinions that differs from others of what we are seeing because we have different perceptions. As time goes on, knowledge on matter will improve. "Nature reacts to our measuring devices." Our measuring devices alters what we see. So, this begs the question, "is what we are seeing real?"