Outer Wilds: The Transformative Power of Uncertainty and Faith
An Explorer’s Guide to Illuminated Faith
It’s time for a fun thought experiment.
Let’s say the Hearthians had a similar understanding of Illuminated Faith as it was discussed earlier. What would this look like?
If Illuminated Faith was fleshed out the way that established faith practices are, what might be its tenants, sins, sacred texts? Who would be the prophets, the priests, the followers?
If we wanted to take these ideas and create a framework for it that would allow for its followers to gain the same sense of hope and purpose, of a divine cosmic mission, without abandoning reason or scientific discoveries, what would that framework entail?
Without further ado, here’s The Explorer’s Guide to Illuminated Faith.
The Mission
- The mission of Illuminated Faith is to harness the possibilities of the universe through a diligent exploration of its mysteries. The search will provide a wealth of rewards, but so long as questions exist, there will always be the promise of more rewards
- Each individual must find their place and purpose in their community, and so each individual must also find a way to arrive at their own Illuminated Faith so that it can guide them, and in turn, all individuals will enrich their communities
- Practitioners of illuminated Faith must be guided by a dual purpose. They must cultivate their own curiosity while supporting the overarching efforts of their larger community to make strides that no single individual can do on their own
The Directives of Illuminated Faith
1. Honor the Hearth
- Illuminated Faith is fueled by the flames of the hearth
- Each explorer must have a strong sense of hearth: an understanding that home is more than a place, but a sanctuary to be cultivated and protected
- Community, harmony, and life is easily damaged and destroyed. It should be every faithful’s mission to protect their hearth and its inhabitants, and to help one another to strengthen the hearth
- Community is fueled by a strong hearth, and progress is fueled by a strong community. Therefore, meaningful progress is not possible without a strong hearth
2. Seek Questions Over Answers
- Answers are endings, questions are beginnings
- Answers eliminate possibilities, questions create them
- A good answer will produce many better questions
- Answers are necessary to ground us, but questions help us fly
3. Protect the Integrity of Knowledge
- Our collective knowledge is the crowned jewel of all our past struggles and discoveries
- We understand knowledge as information, and unlike the truth, information is easily manipulated
- It is our mission to always strengthen our knowledge by always striving for truth and certainty. This can only be done by fighting misinformation, trusting dependable sources, and correcting incomplete or corrupted information so that it cannot poison or well of knowledge
4. Let Your Passions Light the Way
- We are all gifted with individuality, it is our mission to never abandon this uniqueness as in nature, diversity is the best way to success
- We cannot do everything, so do well what you can and share these gifts with your community
- Discovery is arduous. Passion is necessary to overcome the many obstacles to progress. Let your passions guide your time and work
5. Understand the Past
- The past holds the a wealth of lessons to learn from
- Those who can learn from the past, can avoid much suffering in the present
- A careful understanding of the past ensures a smoother journey into the future
6. Challenge the Present
- The status quo should never be cast in stone
- Stagnation is fine for subterranean lakes, but not for explorers
- There’s always the possibility of a brighter tomorrow
7. Celebrate Change
- Ideas and understanding must be flexible like water
- Changing your mind when presented with new information is not a sign of weakness, but of wisdom
- Change can be painful, but that does not mean it is not desirable
8. Be Courageous in the Face of Uncertainty
- Uncertainty is everywhere, it will always be so (we’re uncertain about this second part)
- Instead of seeking to eliminate uncertainty, we should make peace with it (we’re fairly certain about this part, though)
9. Embrace Failure
- Progress is the son of failure
- The faster and more often you fail, the more progress you will make
- Some failures are bigger than others, know which you can afford, and which you cannot
10. Always Grow, Never Destroy
- Life and information are precious: they represent the universe in its most delicate and beautiful forms
- Creation and discovery are virtues that allow for evolution and growth. We should always strive to create and discover
- Destruction and entropy are natural forces in the universe. These forces are not evil, but represent challenges to our mission of survival and exploration. We should seek to resist destruction when we can, and preserve those things we hold dear
- Willful destruction of life, information, and other precious things is the most heinous act imaginable and should not be tolerated
These guidelines offer a pretty good framework for Illuminated Faith, but given how personal the practice can be to each individual, what might Illuminated Faith mean for different practitioners?
FELDSPAR
“I just can’t shake the feeling that the universe is one giant escape room. I believe there was a god who created it and challenged anyone to find their way out. The time limit? The end of the universe. Sounds like a long time, but the clues are really tough to find. I’ll leave that to better minds. But when we finally have the answer, I’ll be the first to pilot us to the exit. What’s the exit? A black hole maybe? I have no clue, but that’s what makes me more excited for someone to reach it, even if it’s not me.”
CHERT
“I keep seeing distant starts flicker out of existence and it makes me excited to know if we could ever stop this process. By we, I mean the super advanced robots we should create to solve this problem. We’ll be long dead before it matters, but it will matter to someone eventually. I have faith that as long as we collect and preserve important information, someone down the road will know what to do with it when it counts.”
GNEISS
“I believe that music is the language of the universe. Everything has a sound and melody, and if we learn how to listen good enough, then maybe we’ll learn a thing or two worth learning. I hope that one day we’ll learn to read and write notes for the sheet music of the cosmos. With the right instruments, maybe we can play the universe one heck of a concert. Maybe if we play good enough it’ll even join us in a duet. Now that would be heaven.”
Feeling the spirit of illuminated Faith tickle you, but not sure how you can contribute to our efforts of exploration?
You don’t have to be a professional scientist to make important contributions to our understanding of the universe. Here are ways to help scientific efforts and leave your mark:
- Educate yourself on scientific concepts that interest you and continue to learn and push your comfort zone to be a more well-rounded and knowledgeable person. This is easier than ever now with free resources such as Khan Academy and quality Youtube channels and creators devoted to science education.
- Volunteer your time to local community organizations, environmental research, outreach programs, and schools to share your own expertise with others and potentially inspire others to become scientists and innovators
- Advocate for causes that matter to you by promoting or spreading awareness for important causes or lobbying the government for positive change. You can also support the Union of Concerned Scientists and their goal of direct science advocacy.
- Donate time, money, or efforts to research or STEM education organizations that are doing good work you’d like to see advance
- Contribute information to community-funded research projects. Check out Citizen Science as well as Drexel’s Academy of Natural Science’s Four Ways to Get Involved in Science blog post.
Above all, it is always important to keep in mind:
There is more to explore