Interpretation

Being a teacher of science, my biology teacher this past year made sure to define terms in black and white. With the help of essayist Stephen Jay Gould, our teacher educated us on the difference between fact and theory (specifically, in regards to evolution; however, the same basis could help clear up other conflicts, too). Evolution was the fact (evolution, meaning the change of species over time) and natural selection was the theory (natural selection being the mechanism that seems the most probable tool to change it. Misunderstanding the basis of evolution, and what science was really trying to say, people like myself got up in arms because of religious beliefs. And I think that many of us end up rejected facts and theories, because we don't know the difference between the two and the power of our perception.

Lately, I've tried to be more of an objective thinker. Obviously, no one person is without bias, however, I've tried to assess life looking at different angles, hearing the different sides before determining what I think and feel. I'm personally beginning to learn a lot more truths, and understand things that were otherwise unknown. But I've also been able to understand so much of the conflict that goes on around us. The root of conflict, on a large scale, comes from ignorance and misunderstandings.

Let me make myself clear, before I give an example: I am a Christian. I believe in God, and the resurrection of Christ. I believe that He was and is and is to come. Now, the other day, I found a yahoo news video on a family who believes their son to be a reincarnated World War II pilot that crash 60 years ago. I started laughing when I read the headline, but, being intrigued, decided to watch the video regardless. It ended up being quite amazing. This couple's son had nightmares in vivid details about planes fighting the Japanese. He knew all about war planes. He was able to describe the actual event that he died during in his dream. They did research for years and found that it matched the life of a specific American pilot from World War II. They assumed, then, that the boy must be reincarnated.

I remember telling my stepmom, thinking it was cool. She was unsure what to think of it, because she doesn't believe in reincarnation. I don't necessarily believe in it either. But when I think about it, I realize this: the boy had nightmares with information he didn't know from outside sources (he was only 2). We can argue about mechanisms, but the fact remains the same.

Facts can be interpretted differently. I'm positive that there is a right way to define and interpret seemingly supernatural happenings, however, I don't know it. I know how I feel, and what I believe to be right, however, when I look at it, many other explanations, when accompanied by human experiences seem just as logical. How can I argue with another's experience and feeling? How can they argue with mine? It'll never end!