Imagination leads perception

One thing that is astonishing about our perceptions is that we trust our imagination so much. We do not even notice the extent to which it trumps our basic senses. We know the world is round, but we do not see it this way. We know the earth is revolving around an axis, but we’ve never felt it. We know that we are orbiting the sun, but we don’t feel like we’re going anywhere.

We put so much faith in this abstract knowledge without realizing that faith is what it is. Any time we believe in something as a cause for what we experience, any time we invent or rely on an explanation, we are making an act of faith.

People like to draw a contrast between science and religion, but they fail to recognize how each of these relies on putting belief ahead of senses. In general, faith guides and senses play catch up, like a horse pulling a cart. For the vast number of people whose imagination leads their senses, seeing is not believing, seeing is verifying what they already know.