A Word About Science and Spirituality
Some believe science and spirituality are mutually exclusive. Faith in the unexplainable, they say, can’t be decontructed by the scientific or any other method. No experiment can prove or disprove the existence of God, nor can any data establish or rule out that there’s a human soul. Others believe that science can debunk spirituality.
In rehab I was looking for scientific proof addiction was a disease and left unsatisfied. And I had problems with the “spiritual solution” of the 12-Step program, starting with the whole “God thing.” The staff suggested I could substitute the words “emotional solution” or “psychological solution” if that helped open my mind, and did.
With sobriety and time I learned that practicing a spiritual program doesn’t require anyone to believe in any conception of God. You can believe, you can dis-believe, you can not know whether you believe. Science and spirituality don’t necessarily have to work at cross-purposes. For me, becoming a neuroscience geek validated the 12-Step spiritual solution. The science confirms, for example, that spiritual practices like meditation can alter brain function at the molecular level in a way that supports sobriety. And learning about the neuroscience of love, for example, doesn’t alter the depth of feeling loved.
Ultimately, I found that instead of debunking spirituality, science supports its efficacy in combating addiction. So it’s important to underline that it’s not my intention to substitute a scientific solution to addiction for a spiritual-emotional one.
Steve Castleman
