Tom Beakbane > Quotes

“It would indeed be pleasing if consilience could be equated with higher states of consciousness and the forward progression of human civilization; however, I believe that conception would be dangerous. Instead, consilience forces us to recognize the fallibilities of the human mind, the fragility of society and the value derived from different domains of human existence, including spirituality and religious practices. While consilience can sensitize us to the complexities of human ideas, it also makes it easier to recognize statements that are unjustifiably dogmatic, wherever they come from.”
― Tom Beakbane, How to Understand Everything: Consilience: A New Way to See the World

“It would be psychologically satisfying to be able to define it as follows: Consilience is the fusion of different disciplines that enables us to understand the human brain and explain both the achievements of human society and its iniquities, allowing us to move forward more productively, both individually and collectively. An understanding of consilience, however, requires a corresponding understanding that the meanings of the words result from our social interactions and are constantly in flux. Therefore, consilience is best comprehended as a process toward improved understanding that can never be boxed in with a tight definition.”
― Tom Beakbane, How to Understand Everything: Consilience: A New Way to See the World