Proof of God’s Existence- Scene 3- The Party

All of us want to be objective. That is, we all want to see the world for what it truly is. And yet, there are so many personal factors involved, so much subjectivity getting in the way of unbiased analysis, that I’d go so far as to say that the term ‘objective interpretation’ is literally a contradiction in terms. All throughout our lives, there’s a model of reality being put together inside our heads. It’s a model built, for the most part, of personal experience. This being the case, each person’s mental representation of the world is going to be unique to some degree. But all is not lost! For our mental constructs are all quite similar in a lot of ways. How could it be otherwise? After all, we all have to eat, sleep, move about, work, play, learn, compete, and co-operate within a shared space. Therefore, there’s a lot of common ground from which to launch our investigations.

In most practical matters, this combination of shared and unique mentalities serves us well. Our commonalities provide impetus to work for the common good- societal stability, for instance- while our unique perspectives provide energy for needed change and growth. Why, then, do we so often find ourselves in conflict with other world views? Shouldn’t this process of deciding what is and what isn’t be easier? The answer to this question is complicated, because both our minds and the world those minds are trying to make sense of are complicated. And rationality is just a little man riding on the back of of whale of inner desires, fears and conflicts. It’s really hard to keep one’s head above water sometimes.

This is why we have science. Science is that small part of us that wants to get a handle on how the world REALLY operates. To garner a bird’s eye viewpoint unclouded by ignorance, or purely emotional concerns, or simply by the unwieldiness of way too much information. Science is a process by which we seek to see more clearly and completely. Oversimplified and in a nutshell, science is simply the methodological observation of reality. Of course, we’re all familiar with ‘Big Science’, engaged in by ‘Scientists’ using ‘Scientific Tools’ and ‘Scientific Terminology’. But there’s also ‘little science’, which is something all of us practice on a daily basis. We all observe the world around us. We all perform constant little analyses throughout each day. We all experiment, looking to make things work a little better, run a little smoother. We all form hypotheses, and test these hypotheses, even if it’s only seeing if we can really get through that yellow light before the traffic cameras go off (I refuse to test this one). In fact, it is from ‘little science’ that ‘Big Science’ grew, and in fact from which Big Science still receives input.

What gets in the way, then, of practicing ‘good’ little science? Mostly, it’s when we ignore the common models of reality most of us share, for reasons other than objective truth seeking. Out of fear, or greed, or a hundred other psychological reasons...or sometimes, out of plain old fashioned ignorance, or even laziness, we chuck our normal way of seeing things and opt for cherished viewpoints that we’d kick ourselves over in other areas of life. This seldom happens all at once. Usually, we lower ourselves into irrationality slowly like a lobster into boiling water. Once we’re submerged, it’s often quite difficult to find our way out again.


It’s been about 3 weeks since Carol’s somewhat curious encounter with Mary in the driveway of the yellow house across the street. Nothing much has changed. More boxes, an occasional sighting of Mary fussing about in the garage, and no sign of the owner, Mr. Garcia. Then one afternoon Bob finds a note in the mailbox-

‘Come one, come all! Big shindig tomorrow night at my house...meet the new neighbor! 6 pm
Mary Jones

The following evening, Bob and Carol make their way over to their next door neighbor’s. They’re running a bit late. Already the driveway is full, and there are a few more cars in the street out front. Bob knocks on the front door, and a moment later Steve from down the street opens it; greeting them, then ushering them into the house. Inside, the place is packed with recognizable and semi-recognizable faces, far more people than are represented by the cars outside. Obviously a lot of folks have doubled up, or simply walked over. Some light jazz is playing on the stereo. The dining area is occupied by a large, crescent shaped buffet table spilling over with all sorts of delicacies. And there’s a bar!

Slowly, they make the rounds. They know almost everyone here, though most only casually. Somebody shoves a beer into Bob’s hand, then offers her one, which she declines. After filling their plates at the buffet, Bob wanders off into the corner of the livingroom nearest to the hallway. Mary is there, talking animatedly within a circle of about a dozen people. Carol remains near the table, taking in the room, searching for that unfamiliar face that might be Mr. Garcia. There are three women she doesn’t recognize, and two men. One of them?

After about 10 minutes, Mary raises her voice and calls for the room’s attention:

Mary: Welcome, everyone! First of all, I’d like to thank you all for coming over tonight. I hope everybody’s having a good time. I just wanted to let everyone know that this great spread, INCLUDING the booze *wink* has been provided by our newest denizen of the neighborhood, Mr. Garcia! Everyone, won’t you give him a hand?

Carol politely applauds with the rest of them, waiting for everyone to turn towards a particular person in the room. Instead, all eyes remain on Mary. After the noise dies down, everybody returns to their little conversation cliques. Mary also resumes the conversation she’d been having before, over in the corner. Carol moves in that direction, finally sidling up next to her husband to better hear what Mary is saying:

Mary:...so anyway, he has a lot of plans. Remodeling, of course. Says he might add a second story. And of course, being the kind of man that he is, I’m sure all of us will... *at this point, Mary notices Carol’s presence* Oh, hiya Carol! Great to see you! Enjoying yourself? *big smile*

CAROL: Hi, Mary. Yes, everything’s great! Should have worn my stretch pants, though. I’m a sucker for scampi.

Mary: Well, don’t forget to have a drink or three. We’re all partying hearty tonight! And all thanks to our new neighbor, Mr. Garcia!

CAROL: Yes, about that. I was wondering; could you point him out for me. I’ve narrowed it down to two.

Mary: *giggles, a little drunkenly Carol thinks* Well, sweetheart, that’d be quite a trick! Oh! You weren’t here for my earlier announcement, were you? Mr. Garcia is out of town on very important business, and couldn’t make it tonight. Guess you could say I’m his representative this evening. So if any thanks are in order, go ahead and aim ‘em my way, sweetie! *definitely drunk*

CAROL: Darn! I was really hoping to meet him tonight. He’s become sort of ‘the mystery man’ in my mind, and I wanted to get a look at him.

Mary: Well, he was here earlier, helping me set things up. Isn’t he great to do this for us? I was just telling everybody what an important guy he is. His roots in this state go way, way back, and we’re really, REALLY lucky to have him living amongst us. In a way, I guess you could say he IS with us, in spirit. *she raises her glass* Cheers, everyone, and a toast to a wonderful benefactor, Mr. Garcia.

Everyone raises their glasses and bottles in a toast, and for the rest of the night the party proceeds as most parties do. A few have too much to drink, though Carol doesn’t see anybody actually get sick. Carol eats a little more, has exactly one glass of champagne (more for the social aspect than anything else), and wanders about the room- chatting with this or that person, catching up with a few people she can actually stand to be around. But mostly, trying to get a feel for what everybody else is thinking concerning the mysterious Mr. Garcia.

Surprisingly to Carol, the communal opinion basically boils down to ‘super to have him here, he’ll do wonders for the neighborhood, and ain’t he a great guy?’ There are a few who don’t join in the accolades, but neither do they offer any negative input. Carol, on the other hand, is feeling more and more uncomfortable with the situation, and is beginning to feel aggravated with the jovial mood of the room. Finally, she can’t stand it any longer. After dragging Bob away from the bar (husbands!), the Smiths slip out the front door, unnoticed by Mary and her audience.

Back at home, they undress and slip into bed. Carol wants to talk, but Bob is about two-and-a-half sheets to the wind and is already snoring before she can work up a coherent sentence. Her frustration spilling over, she smacks him in the back with her small fist, just a hair on the other side of lovingly. This jolts him partway awake. He turns over in the bed, gives her a peck on the cheek (which wouldn’t be nearly as sloppy if he were sober...and perhaps might lead to other things), mumbles “’Night, hon,” then turns back over. Right before he starts snoring again, he mutters “Isn’t that Mr. Garcia a great guy? A gentleman, and a scholar.” Carol bites down on her knuckle, finally drifting to sleep with it still in he mouth.

QUESTION: How many unjustified assumptions can you count on Bob’s part, both tacit and explicit? On Carol’s? On a scale of 1 to 10, how unjustified are they?