Logic Is Not Practical Essay, Research Paper

LOGIC IS NOT PRACTICAL

Who needs logic? Logic is but an entrapment ? a false sense of security to

let us rest easy at night. Countless numbers take solace in the world in which

we live, a world we know virtually nothing about, by forcing themselves to

believe that if something is intangible, or unimaginable, it is impossible.

The Spanish told Christopher Columbus in 1492 that he was setting sail on

suicide mission when he discovered North America. Logic had told them, from the

beginning of time, that the world was flat. Of course it is, at least as far as

the eye can see. But in this case, and in many others too numerous to mention,

there is so much beyond what the eye can see.

A modern-time example would be the mass suicide of 39 Heavens? Gate cult

members. They reportedly timed their suicides to correlate with the passing of

the comet named Hale-Bopp. They supposedly believed that their spirits were

going to rendezvous with a UFO that was enveloped by Hale-Bopp?s tail. How

preposterous! What an obtuse notion! I am sure these are the same feelings

expressed by the Spanish in the 1400?s. Who are we to second-guess someone

else?s actions? Our culture is quick to shoot down ideas that cannot be backed

up by logic. I feel that this limits the human race hugely.

We believe in God. As a whole, we are a nation built on Christian beliefs ?

?One Nation Under God?. I?ve never seen him, nor have I ever heard him ?

not in a logical sense. However, these facts make him no less real.

A common belief that is highly criticized is reincarnation. Some believe it

is absurd to think that all living things are intertwined ? that a human can

be reborn as a bird, or a fish, or a goat. I can?t remember every dying and

being reborn as a human ? or anything else, so I will straddle the fence on

that argument.

Forever, we believed that life could not be duplicated by any other means

than by conventional reproduction. Once again, we have been educated otherwise.

In 1997, two world-renown universities conducted successful experiments cloning

animals. It began with sheep and monkeys, but now the race is on to clone the

first human!

Logically, we want to believe that this is impossible, but the proof of the

pudding is in the eating! There?s another slap in the face for logic.

Many people don?t believe angels exist. I believe there are angels among us

every day, in everything we do. Little Sara McCloud shares my belief. One day

last winter, Sara was boarding her school bus for the afternoon ride home when a

stranger approached her. The nice elderly woman was technically a stranger to

her, but Sara agreed to let the woman walk her home. Even though this was

against her better judgment, Sara knew the twelve blocks weren?t too far to

walk, and besides, her bus took a very out-of-the-way route to her home, so this

way would probably be much quicker. It wasn?t until Sara arrived home that she

realized the importance of this decision. When she stepped onto her front porch,

Sara?s distraught mother clutched her tightly in her arms. Sara had never been

squeezed so hard. Her mother had just received word that Sara?s school bus had

run off an icy bridge, just half a mile from the school.

The little girl reassured her mother that everything was fine, thanks to her

new friend who offered to walk her home. As she turned around to introduce the

sweet old lady, she was gone ? vanished without a trace. I feel that this is

proof that there are stronger powers working out there. Stronger than that power

in our minds ? logic.

While it is true, that seeing is believing, maybe sometimes we try to see

with our eyes shut. A wise teacher once told me that is ?OK to be ignorant, it

is not OK to be proud of being ignorant.? Who knows what may unfold in the

future? Practically every day logic is disproved. I?ll never depend on it. But

then again? never say never.