Wisdom Gained
Many readers will unavoidably be disturbed by my evidence-based arguments for the conclusions that
minds are brains, that reality is independent of our thinking of it, and that the meaning of life and
morality is to be sought in human biology and psychology rather than in some transcendent realm.
Historically, people have found it hard enough to undergo the cognitive change required to reorganize
our conceptual systems to think that humans are just another kind of animal and that the earth is just
another planet among billions of solar systems and galaxies. Even more psychologically difficult is
the emotional conceptual change that requires abandoning feelings about the cosmic centrality of
human existence, along with naturally valued ideas about immortality, free will, and a caring God.
The cognitive conceptual change is justified by the overwhelming evidence for scientific theories
such as the theory of evolution by natural selection and the big bang theory of the universe. These
theories also put heavy pressure in the direction of emotional conceptual change, because they
challenge the assumptions needed for religion-based views about souls.
But the emotional conceptual changes accompanying the replacement of faith by evidence do not
have to be entirely negative, nor need they generate an existential crisis of deep despair. Hope is to
be sought not in eternal deliverance or divine oversight, but in the much more mundane and
realistically achievable pursuit of goals connected with love, work, and play. Secular lives do not
have to be empty or immoral, but can have the same primary pursuits as those of religious people,
who also have families, jobs, and entertainment. Moreover, people can avoid the tedium of church
services and the terrifying threat of eternal punishment. The fact that the universe doesn't care about
you should not be horribly distressing as long as there are people who do. If you can develop
confidence that moderately successful pursuit of love, work, and play will satisfy your vital needs for
relatedness, competence, and autonomy, then you shouldn't need the religious belief that God is
looking out for you or the spiritual belief that everything happens for a reason. Recognizing that minds
are brains is unavoidably a conceptual revolution, but it does not have to be a complete emotional
revolution, because the values that drive most of people's activities in everyday life can be retained.
In chapter 1, I characterized wisdom as knowledge about what matters, why it matters, and how to
achieve it. I hope you agree that evidence-based answers to questions about the nature of reality,
knowledge, morality, and meaning constitute important kinds of knowledge that matter. In particular, I
have tried to show that the realms that do and should matter most in people's everyday lives are love,
work, and play, rather than happiness or the pursuit of wealth. I have not gone into detail about how to
accomplish goals associated with love, work, and play, but for such practical advice you would do
better to consult psychologists rather than philosophers.
Many important philosophical, neuropsychological, and social questions remain. Although I will
not attempt to answer any of them in depth, I want to sketch the kinds of answers to some key
questions that can be developed within the neural naturalistic framework that I have defended. What
kind of government should countries have? How can creative change be produced? What is
mathematical knowledge? Why is there something and not nothing? My answers to these questions
will be very preliminary but will serve to indicate some of the future tasks for neural naturalism.