Christianity: A Cause of Modern Science

8Another metaphysical delusion the Chinese sadly suffered from (though theywere hardly alone) were various a priori pseudo-scientific "explanations" ofnatural events. In Chinese thought the two best examples of this were the twoforces of Yin and Yang on the one hand, and the book of Changes (I Ching) onthe other. Yin (female) and Yang (male) were seen as the two forces pervadingall of nature and its processes. As a result, the Chinese would not hesitate toassign "the changes of weather to the stillness of Yin." Yin and Yang were usedto explain why magnets became attracted to each other, and describe themovements of the sun, moon, and stars. Likewise, the I Ching was a manual ofdivination that would line up various sayings and interpretations of naturalevents through various symbols such as lines, trigrams, and hexagrams.Through this book any observation in nature ("omen") would be given an instantinterpretation as to its cause and significance. (Compare this to the Romanpractice of examining animals' livers to make major decisions of state, etc.)Although normally very sympathetic to the claims of Chinese culture andscience, Needham still was willing to say: "Yet really they [Han dynastyscholars] would have been wiser to tie a millstone about the neck of the I Chingand cast it into the sea." The most widespread of pseudo-scientific delusionswas astrology. It plagued Islam, India, even Christendom to a great degree--andChina as well. At the Emperor's court, various "wise men" (astrologers,astronomers, and meteorologists) would interpret and blame on the emperorvarious portents and "signs." What are the costs of having such a priori"explanations" of natural events? They dull the human mind through thinking itDOES know why such events occur, when in fact the laws of nature are stillunknown. To posit such metaphysical entities as Yin and Ya destinies, and thensay they determine natural processes, creates the delusion of knowledge out ofignorance. Of course, the Chinese were hardly alone in embracing suchscience-hindering deceptions--see Aristotle's On the Heavens, and his fourelements theory, for starters.THE CHINESE VERSION OF THE ORGANISMIC VIEW OF NATUREAnother metaphysical conception that impeded Chinese science was anorganismic view of nature, which sees all of nature as being one huge living