[Prose Essay] Hypothesis

Human knowledge is limited. For the ultimate aspects of the universe that go beyond our knowledge or the essence of life, we can only explain them using 'hypotheses.' When it comes to 'hypotheses,' we should consider scientific hypotheses and religious hypotheses separately. Scientific hypotheses can, in theory, be verified. Religious hypotheses, on the other hand, are evaluated based on how they explain phenomena that people do not yet understand, and whether the judgments or actions based on them are effective. In short, scientific hypotheses pursue the question of truth or falsehood, while religious hypotheses pursue values needed to improve human nature. I once had a friend named 'Qian' (sometimes called 'Yi'), who was a Buddhist. At that time, I had many objections to religion. I will not go into the later details, but we had many differences. It was only after calm and rational study that I understood the value of Buddhism. In an era of severe superstition, when two hundred million gods seemed to be everywhere, the appearance of Buddhism, although it ultimately did not escape the form of gods, had many valuable theories. In particular, its hypothesis concerning the cycle of life and the idea that humans have lives but different consequences was extremely valuable in that era. Without such assumptions, a person's 'retribution,' that is, destiny, would be determined by a transcendent being like a god or by chance. Buddhism teaches people to realize that they are not controlled by beings beyond humanity, but are responsible for everything about themselves, thereby establishing fundamental autonomy. From this perspective, many religions are not as simple as just 'superstition.'