Einstein made the unnerving observation that rationalism has been “catastrophic” in its impact on human life. What on earth does he mean? This is the worst kind of heresy, not only for Unitarian Universalists but for western culture as a whole.

What exactly is rationalism? It is the theory widely held in western culture that reason is the only valid basis for action or belief.

Surely this is not mere theory – it is fact. To say it has been catastrophic is absurd, Einstein notwithstanding. What evidence does he offer for this unthinkable assertion?

“By painful experience we have learned,” he said, “that rational thinking does not suffice to solve the problems of social life. Penetrating research and keen scientific work have often had tragic implications for humanity.” While, he went on, science and technology have “liberated us from exhausting physical labor, making life easier and richer; but, on the other hand... making us slaves to our technological environment, and – most tragic of all – creating the means of our own mass destruction... A tragedy of overwhelming poignancy.”

Which is undeniably true; and rationalism is a prime example of the various misconceptions, the distortions of reality that have for centuries generated destruction and death on a massive scale. There are a number of other such devastating misconceptions in all world views (including that of science), and they are now propelling our species toward extinction. [Reality? Who knows what that is? Everybody knows a little about it: it is that immense, dynamic entity out of which the sun, earth, life, and ourselves emerged. It's where we live, our home].

Every world view – including that of religion and of science – is an uncertain assortment of conceptions and misconceptions about that reality. No world view is perfect, of course, though people are powerfully motivated to believe that their own really is. Some of these misconceptions, like rationalism, are now cataclysmic in their impact. Even so, people everywhere tend to be certain that they see the world as it actually is. They have (so far) needed to be certain; though it is now clear to a growing minority of humans that “certainty derives from need rather than knowing;” and, as a result, “is always available in the amount required.” [Allen Wheelis, The End of the Modern Age, p 81]

Ethnocentric certainty, clearly, is a menace to the survival of humanity. A majority of humans, through further cultural evolution, must transcend the misconceptions of reality caught up in their social conditioning. Fortunately, the needed evolution has already begun to develop in individuals all over the world. We must do all we can to encourage its expansion. UU religion is reality-oriented, and so is especially suited to the task of nurturing the additional cultural evolution now required of humanity.

Lex