Allegory of the Tavern and Scientific Illusion

 

Allegory of the Tavern and Scientific Illusion

Once upon a time, there was a grand tavern, a place shimmering with artificial lights, resonating with exalted speeches and confident laughter. In this tavern, they served enchanting beverages, with names as prestigious as they were deceptive: Scientism, Technoscientism, Absolute Rationality. Those who entered this place found a reassuring atmosphere: they were told that everything was measurable, everything was explainable, and that truth was right there, within reach, in formulas and algorithms.

The patrons, comfortably seated, were surrounded by screens endlessly projecting images of a radiant future: floating cities, augmented humans, an omniscient artificial intelligence that would solve all problems. Every day, they were served a new cocktail of progress—stronger, faster, ever more intoxicating.

But what no one saw was that this tavern was a gilded cage. The walls were thick, without windows, and the doors seemed sealed. Those who dared to doubt the truth served there were immediately ridiculed: “Reactionary! Conspiracist! Neo-Luddite!” shouted the regulars, drunk on certainties.

One day, a man emerged from a strange torpor. He wondered if all this was truly real, if science and technology were indeed the keys to salvation as promised. He tried to find a way out and eventually discovered a hidden door, covered in dust. With great effort, he opened it and stepped into the outside world.

There, he discovered nature, the wind, the complexity of reality—far from the excessive simplifications of the tavern. He then realized that science, instead of being a path to awakening, had become an intoxication, a new religion in which Man had imprisoned himself. He asked himself: Are we truly more intelligent with this plethora of technoscientific knowledge? Does intelligence boil down to the accumulation of scientific facts? Knowledge for what purpose? To better understand in terms of wisdom and good judgment, or simply to better manipulate everything?

He returned to the tavern, trying to warn the others. But they mocked him, calling him mad, nostalgic for a bygone world. “Progress is inevitable, drink and forget these ramblings!” they told him, laughing.

And so, the tavern continued to serve its delusional beverages, and the shadows on the walls continued to dance, ever faster, ever crazier, while Humanity lost itself in this illusory bottomless pit of scientism and technoscientism!

But one day, perhaps, others would rise. Others would find the way out. And then, the wind of a "rediscovered ontological" reality, imbued with Humanity and no longer with this deleterious and deadly humanism, would blow again on Humanity.

Écométa