About

Why Am I Doing This?

As you probably know by now the name of this blog is Noumenal Mind, and to preface this forum of ideas, thoughts and goals, I would like to expand on what I wish to convey through my writing.

Immanuel Kant coined two terms that have helped shape and solidify my world view, namely the phenomena and the noumena. The former is what we perceive and understand about the world we live in, and the latter is the reality of the things we perceive, which is independent of our perception — what Kant would call “the thing in itself”.  I believe that the closest we can get to approaching truth is through acquiring and consolidating knowledge, and then independently investigating the information thrown at us through interdisciplinary lenses. Neither science nor religion, nor any other system of knowledge for that matter, can prove the truth of a theory. We can’t even demonstrate, technically speaking, that a theory is probably true. Empirical data, for example, is always open ended and subject to revision: even if it passes every test with flying colors it is still at the mercy of the Problem of Induction (1). This is not to delegitimize science by relegating scientific theories to just a theory, but merely to acknowledge its epistemological limits. At best, we can say a given system of knowledge aims at truth, with its respective toolkit, but however certain its methods, can never examine all of its elements or explain all of its underlying conceptions. It seems there will always be a “noumenal” component gleaned only through our assumptions. One such assumption that the structure of science is built upon is the existence of an order that is upheld through the operation of specific laws of nature, and that this order is intelligible to the human mind. Of course this order — this objective reality — requires that we go beyond the phenomenal world of appearances, a step requiring faith. This is not a blind, dogmatic faith, but rather a faith vindicated by the success of science.

As a Baháʼi, I was raised to believe in the harmony of science and religion, where both are complementary systems of thought that can help promote human progress and development. The Baha'i writings say that: 

Religion and science are the two wings upon which man's intelligence can soar into the heights, with which the human soul can progress. It is not possible to fly with one wing alone! Should a man try to fly with the wing of religion alone he would quickly fall into the quagmire of superstition, whilst on the other hand, with the wing of science alone he would also make no progress, but fall into the despairing slough of materialism.(2)

In today’s world, it is difficult to imagine that science and religion can be in harmony at all in light of the contending ideologies of religious fanaticism and materialist reductionism. There is additional false dichotomy between faith and reason that places religion and science in opposition. However, extensive examination of the nature of true science and true religion, devoid of the adulterations of society, reveals many overlapping questions and methods. In this light, science and religion can be viewed as complementary. This complementarity is analogous to the complementarity of various methods and measurements in quantum physics, where under certain experimental set ups the electron behaves as a particle and under others as a wave. As such, nature lends itself to complementary descriptions of the same phenomenon. Religion and science, as two systems of knowledge, may also be two complementary descriptions of the same reality.

To conclude this introduction, I will just say that to me, approaching truth is analogous to spending your life saving up for a concert ticket you know you can never afford. I find the “noumena” a reassuring concept that ascertains the existence of a reality we can never fully grasp with any certainty (besides, even if we were to somehow grasp it, it would be beyond the scope of our awareness). The eponymous concept of a "noumena" to this blog, specifically a "Noumenal Mind", is an overarching idea I hope will make sense of the disparate pieces featured. My blog is both an attempt, and struggle, to reconcile my thoughts and feelings about both the world, and the mind with which we so limitedly, yet intimately, perceive the world. 

// Yasmine Ayman

A little (more) about me:

I am an undergraduate student at Columbia College double majoring in Philosophy and Neuroscience. I currently work on two research projects, one on intergenerational epigenetic inheritance in Professor Bianca Marlin’s Lab and the other on the temporal organization of memory in Professor Richard Axel’s Lab. Given my previous work in various Alzheimer’s disease research labs, I ultimately want to reconcile both fields in an attempt to understand how our environments effect our psychopathology and disease susceptibility. I believe understanding the molecular basis of how stressful and traumatic environmental impact us is crucial to establishing a more equitable and just society. In my free time, I like to explore the city, sketch and play the piano.

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