Transcription
Smart people struggle to find God. And there are two possible explanations for this phenomenon. The obvious one is to conclude that smart people see through the nonsense of religion and are less susceptible to irrational beliefs. That's the atheistic explanation.
But there's also another explanation. Let's assume that God does exist. Why would smart people struggle to find him? The answer is that there's a vice that correlates with intelligence. And this vice can make it close to impossible to find God. If you want to guess before I start revealing it, you can pause the video now.
This vice is hinted at in Matthew 11:25 where Jesus says the following. "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children." So God hides from the wise and learned. But why? And how is that justified if God is all loving? And what is it about intelligence or knowledge that makes it so hard to find God?
To understand this, I'd like to show you a video clip from Jordan Peterson.
"It is a temptation for intelligent people to identify with their intelligence and to become prideful. Right? That's actually how in some ways how God keeps the eternal scales of cosmic justice balanced. So imagine you're born with an IQ of 145. Well, then you might think, well, that's not very fair because what about the poor guy who's born with an IQ of 85? And those are very different. They're very, very, very, very different. And and you say, well, that's completely unfair. It's like, fair enough, but the guy with the IQ of 145 is is prone to the temptations of the pride of the intellect, and that is Lucifer, right? Like that's the worst temptation. And so Lucifer is the spirit of intellect gone most dreadfully wrong. And so, sure, you can have an IQ of 145, but man, you better uh you better be on your knees in gratitude that that gift was given to you, and you better not misuse it because if that thing takes the upper hand, you are in the hands of the worst possible agent of destruction."
There's a lot to unpack here. And one aspect of pride of the intellect that I'd like to focus on in this video is that pride of the intellect makes it almost impossible to find truth. And the reason for that is that pride is the opposite of humility. And one definition of humility is that it's the virtue of the recognition of truth. [snorts] I'll explain what exactly that means and why that is during this video.
But now let me explain why pride correlates with intelligence and what exactly pride of the intellect is. I'd like to illustrate this by describing the typical life experience of a smart person. In childhood, for example, a smart child is in school and realizes that other students understand things more slowly and usually also have a limit of what they're capable of understanding or at least willing to try to understand. For example, mathematical concepts that seem like hocus pocus to other students are completely clear for the smart student. In extreme cases, the child might even learn that it's more likely that the teacher is wrong or that there's a mistake in the textbook than that they themselves made a mistake. This isn't necessarily arrogance because it can actually correspond to a lived experience.
So with that experience, the child now goes into an adult and realizes that religions make weird claims that no one really understands. And because of their experience in all other areas of life, they're tempted to conclude that the most likely explanation for this phenomenon is that religion is nonsense. And other people simply haven't realized that. Very smart people aren't used to encountering concepts that they can't understand. So they're tempted to believe that if they can understand something, this something is nonsense and should be discarded. That's pride of the intellect.
A great example of this is Leo Tolstoy who admitted this thought process when writing about his struggle in finding meaning in life at the peak of his career. He writes, "I thought that this narrow circle of learned, wealthy, and idle people to which I belonged comprised the sum of mankind and that the millions who had lived and continued to live outside of the circle were animals, not people. How strange and utterly incredible it seems to me now that in my reasoning I could have overlooked the life of humanity all around me that I could have fallen into such a ridiculous state of error as to think that my life and the life of Solomon or Schopenhauer was the true normal life or the lives of millions of others were not worthy of consideration. But however strange it may seem to me now such was the case at that time. Led astray by intellectual pride. I thought there could be no doubt that along with Solomon and Schopenhauer, I had posed the question so precisely, so truthfully, that there were no two ways about it. I thought there could be no doubt that all these millions were among those who had never penetrated the depths of the question. It turned out that all of humanity had some kind of knowledge of the meaning of life, which I had overlooked and held in contempt."
So, the issue isn't thinking that one has superior intellectual capabilities compared to most other people. The issue is thinking that if one's own intellect can't understand it, that's because something objectively doesn't make sense. Pride of the intellect also means thinking that the thoughts of more simple-minded people are worthless, as Leo Tolstoy described in the quote that I just read. So that's basically falling in love with one's own intellect and essentially considering one's own intellect to be the ultimate measure of rationality and the pinnacle of all possible understanding. Of course, hardly anyone would explicitly admit that that's what they think about their intelligence. And the only example I encountered so far is Leo Tolstoy. And I don't judge anyone who thinks like that because it's only understandable for someone to fall in love with their own intellect if they're actually super smart. The only real issue is that this enchantment with one's own intellect leads to some serious blind spots in one's thinking, as I'll explain in a minute.
Again, if we assume that God exists, then the reality of the situation is that compared to an omniscient God, the difference between a child and a genius is negligible and pride of the intellect means overlooking that. As I said in the beginning of this video, pride inhibits the acquisition of understanding because it's the opposite of humility, which can be defined as the virtue of the recognition of truth. One reason why humility and truth are inextricably linked is because being humble means seeing oneself as one truly is and by consequence also seeing everything else as it truly is. Pride on the other hand is always some distortion of reality.
Let's look at pride of the intellect specifically. If a smart person says that they're smart, this isn't pride because the person made a true statement. It might not be socially acceptable or likable to walk around bragging about one's intellectual capabilities, but if those capabilities are actually there, then acknowledging them isn't necessarily prideful.
And now, I'd like to take a closer look at the relationship between humility and truth. But before I do that, I'd like to say that if you like this type of content, I would really appreciate your support on Patreon so that I can continue making these videos. And now, let's get back to the topic of this video.
The reason why humility is the virtue of recognition of truth is because pursuing humility means seeing ourselves as we truly are, neither greater than we are nor smaller. And once we figure that out, we start seeing everything else in its proper proportions. For example, in order to recognize God's greatness, it's necessary to recognize one's own insignificance. Because again, humility means seeing things in their proper proportions. One possible way of seeking truth is actually just a pursuit of humility. So if you're someone who struggles with doubting certain aspects of the faith, try just praying the litany of humility.
And as we contemplate all of this, the meaning of Matthew 11:25 becomes clear. "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children." The wise and learned are impeded in arriving at certain truths like the existence of God because of intellectual pride. And the little children refer to people who are intellectually humble.
And if you think about it, it also makes sense why Jesus mentions little children specifically. If there is a loving God that wants everyone to know him, then finding him must be accessible to everyone, both to people with sophisticated intellects and people with simple intellects. And the simplest conceivable intellect would be the one of a little child. So there must exist a simple way to arrive at the conclusion that God exists and to figure out which religion is the right one. There might be other ways of arriving at God's existence intellectually. But one way that must exist is a very simple way. What I mean by that is that there must be a way for an ordinary child to arrive at the conclusion that there is a god. And this conclusion must be reachable without the help of religious experience because not everyone has religious experiences in their life. So a child must be able to conclude that God exists simply by observing and analyzing the world without people telling that child that God exists.
Let's try to find this childlike way of finding God by conducting the following thought experiment. Try to evaluate everything that you've learned in your life so far with the mental capacity of your 5-year-old self. What I mean by that is try to cut out all the noise in your head, all the overthinking, your inclination to think highly complex and abstract thoughts, and your tendency to doubt the obvious. Now, think about the world you live in. What do you know to be true for sure? Forget about math, science, philosophy. That's way too complicated for your 5-year-old self. Think deeper. What's left? The stuff that you know to be true are things like, "I know I exist. That's for sure. I know that other people exist. I know that love exists and I know what love is. I know that people can be kind to me and I know that I can be kind to other people. I know that some people can be nasty to me and I know that I can be nasty to other people. I can choose to be kind or I can choose to be nasty. I have free will." Your adult self is able to doubt all of this. But remember, for this exercise, you have to cut out all the noise in your head and think simply. In the head of a 5-year-old child, there is no doubt that free will exists.
And now you can continue like this and see what else you know to be true with a childlike brain. As I said, there must be a way for a 5-year-old child to infer God's existence. And maybe you'll find that way by trying this thought experiment. Now, I know that children also often believe in the existence of Santa Claus. But in my opinion, there's a difference between thinking that Santa Claus is real and knowing that I exist, that I have free will, and that love exists. Because the existence of Santa Claus is something children believe because they're told that he exists. But children don't need to be told that they have free will in order to believe that.
So now I showed how humility and truth are connected. And I'd like to point out that this demonstration was only possible because I asked you to assume at the beginning of this video that God exists. In the beginning of this video, I asked if God exists, why would he be hiding from smart people? And if we hadn't assumed that, we wouldn't have gone down the path that I just laid out for you. On the assumption that God doesn't exist, the most plausible explanation is that smart people recognize more easily that religion is nonsense. But to see that there's also another plausible explanation for this phenomenon, it's necessary to look at it from the theistic perspective. And just to clarify, I didn't intend to demonstrate today that God exists. I just wanted to show that the fact that smart people struggle to find him can't be used as evidence against his existence.
Now, one question that I haven't answered yet is how it can be justified that God hides from smart people. And to explain this, I'd like to talk about another aspect of humility, which is linked to the ability to find truth. And that aspect is the willingness to ask for and accept help. In order to find God, it's also necessary that we ask for his assistance in doing so. Because he's the vine and we are the branches, and without him, we can do nothing.
Now, some people might prefer to find God on their own. For whatever reason, for example, because they like the challenge and fear that if they ask God for help, it will ruin the fun. But let's remember that God is love and that he knows the desires of our hearts. If we ask for his help, he will help us exactly as much as is necessary for us to maximize the fun. As St. Augustine said, "To fall in love with God is the greatest romance, to seek him the greatest adventure, to find him the greatest human achievement." Some people really like to solve puzzles and so it would ruin the fun of the discovery if, for example, the Virgin Mary appeared to them. For some people, the most satisfying way to discover God is by exerting their intellectual capacities to their utmost limit. And then right before they fall into despair over their inability to find him, the solution appears in their mind. So as St. Augustine said, seeking God is the greatest adventure and God knows who likes what type of adventure. So that's one reason that justifies why God is so hard to find for some people.
But another reason is found in the fact that smart people can have a great impact for or against God in this world. While a high IQ is virtually useless in understanding God any better than a child, it is very useful when it comes to accomplishing things in the world. Smart people can think strategically. They know what to say and how to say it to convince others. And once they truly understand something, they can explain it in different levels of difficulty to different people. Those people might be battling the worst possible temptation. But if they succeed in beating it, they might become the next St. Thomas Aquinas. Jordan Peterson describes this as God keeping the eternal scales of cosmic justice balanced.
Now, to round things up, there's one final aspect of humility that I'd like to address. Now, in the Bible quote I read in the beginning, Jesus said that God revealed these things to little children. And if you think about it, Christian truth claims are not just unbelievable, but they're also embarrassing. It's embarrassing to say that we believe that Jesus was born of a virgin. Embarrassment is always a sign of pride. So this is another indication of the fact that humility is necessary to come to believe in Christ.
And if you think about it, what makes Christian beliefs so embarrassing is that they're childish. Christians believe that there is a very powerful loving father figure in heaven that rewards us if we behave well and that cares about everything we want to tell him in prayer. That's why Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Because of this, in Christianity, the deepest understanding of certain theological truths is the one of a child.
To illustrate this, I'd like to tell you a story. When I was a child and I was going to lessons that prepared me for my first holy communion, I remember not understanding what the priest was explaining to me. The priest continued to assure me that this piece of bread at mass turns into Jesus, like really Jesus. And I asked for clarification multiple times, but his explanations weren't helpful. So then the day of my first holy communion arrived, and I still remember what I was praying in the very moment I received our Lord for the first time. I prayed, "My God, I didn't understand the explanations of the adults. I've been told that this is you. I don't understand how, but when I grow up, I will find out."
So, now I've grown up and I have found out. I discovered that in that moment, I had reached the peak understanding of what Holy Communion is. It is Jesus, but I don't know how. This is something that I wish more adults had admitted to me when I asked them theological questions as a child. I wish that they had admitted that they don't know and that they don't understand either. So, I will say now what I wish someone had admitted when I was a child. I don't understand what mass is. All I know is that it's really special and that Jesus is there somehow. I have no idea what happens after I die. And I don't know what heaven or hell are. All I know is that Jesus said that heaven is good and hell really isn't. And as far as I can see, Jesus seems trustworthy. So, I want to go to heaven, whatever that is. And finally, I don't understand what or who God is or how there can be one God in three persons. All I know is that God is love and I know what love is and that's all I need to know.