Naturalism: The Value Of Continual Cause And Effect Patterns

There are a few views that have altered since my movement out of naturalism. One appeal in naturalism is the value of continual cause and effect pattern. The unbreakable linkage of cause and effect is how the world is described. The universe is considered a closed system that cannot be reorder (Sire, 2009, _). In chemistry, the term ‘closed system’ refers to an experiment that cannot lose or gain from outside the system. A closed system is considered an idea situation to conduct experiment and any other system would be unreliable and doubtful. By depend on cause and effect patterns, science is a product of observing the consistent order of the universe. There was predictability that if these two compounds were combined, then this compound would
be the result. However, naturalism is not as definite as it would seem. Dr. Wisemore discussed that science has to make assumption about a regular universe. These assumptions are general, unspoken agreement in order for science to be useful. First, there is consistency and uniformity within the universe (J. Wisemore, personal communication, March 22, 2016). My past worldview would struggle with the concept of accepting a rule that is not proven. Yet, how could you prove that there is consistency in the universe without uniformity to compose a believable experiment. Also, science has to assume that the world is a closed system for data is reliable. Also, Wisemore pointed out that cause and effect is a term of the mind that learn to associate part one and part two together (J. Wisemore, personal communication, March 22, 2016). In correlation studies, the observed association between two variables is describes as a correlation and a clear distinction between cause and effect. My personal appeal to naturalism was the dependability of consistency. The universe seemed to make more sense when I could organize concepts into categories and be able to dissect it into detailed patterns. Knowledge was a tangible benefit that could be mentally gained. Francis Bacon once said “knowledge is power” and that power can lead to pride. Lewis considered pride to be the source of all other sins. He said that “For pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.” (Lewis, 1954, p. 125) The pursuit of knowledge is my personal ‘achilles heel’ and a source of discontent with my current status. There is a fine balance between knowledge and emotions, either extreme of the spectrum can result in pride.