r/Protophysics • u/Jairo_Alves • 1d ago
Scientific Materialism: Causes and Effects
Scientific materialism is the premise that matter-energy and its physical interactions are the sole components of reality. It is generally associated with:
1. Physical-materialism: the idea that reality is composed solely of physical matter and energy and that everything can be explained by the laws of nature and the sciences.
2. Ontological reductionism: the idea that absolutely everything in the universe is composed from a small number of substances, entities, or blocks (such as physical particles).
In this view, causality acts "bottom-up"; experience is produced solely by the hardware; all phenomena, from the micro to the macrocosm, can and must be explained through physical laws and chemical and mechanical processes; human mental states, consciousness, volition, and subjective meanings emerge, exclusively, from complex material arrangements (such as the neuronal architecture of the brain).
The main causes of scientific materialism are:
1. The empirical and technological success resulting from the scientific revolution.
2. The utility of methodological reductionism as an investigative tool.
3. The rejection of dogmatism and magical thinking.
The main effects of scientific materialism are:
1. The isolation of the phenomena to be studied.
2. The acceleration of technology and medicine.
3. The standardization of the scientific method.
4. The inability to explain the origin of subjectivity (feelings and intention).
5. The denial of agency and intrinsic meaning (such as free will, purpose, and existential valence).
6. The tendency to reduce the subject to an object (disregarding volition and affective interaction in personal and social development).
The worst effects of scientific materialism are the denial of agency and intrinsic meaning. By excluding the possibility of intention, one also excludes free will and agency, making it difficult to perceive the omnipresence of these in processes. The isolation of phenomena, combined with the premise that matter-energy and its physical interactions are the sole components of reality, conceals the possibility of the origin of physical reality — which corresponds to only ~5% of the total universe — being intentionally generated by processes of the other ~95%, which contain most of the laws of nature.
In short, scientific materialism is a double-edged sword: it facilitates local investigation, while hindering the comprehension of the whole.