Miracles are alluring to mass but reality isn’t

 Phenomena have scientific explanations, and we limit our ability to understand them if we call them supernatural.

Some things, what we call “miracles” or “supernatural events,” seem inexplicable. But are they truly? Considering alternative explanations of miracles, and comparing the likelihood of these competing explanations, is a good way to go about discerning how and why seemingly mystifying things happen.

David Hume, the famous Scottish philosopher, put forward a clever heuristic for thinking about miracles: an unlikely event should only be considered a “miracle” if all other possible explanations of the event are even less likely, and therefore even greater miracles.

For example, we all know the famous story of Jesus turning water into wine. Of the following explanations, which is the most likely?

•  It actually happened. The H2O molecules rearranged into the components of wine.

•  It was a clever sleight of hand.

•  Nothing like this actually happened. It’s just a story someone made up, or a misunderstanding of something else that really did happen.

According to Hume’s logic, which event is the most likely?

Furthermore, just because we can’t understand something right now doesn’t mean that we won’t be able to understand it in the future. Claiming that something is supernatural means abandoning all hope of ever being able to explain it, causing us to stop trying altogether. 

When scientists can’t explain something with their existing models, they don’t give up. They see this as an opportunity, and challenge themselves to refine their models and come closer to the truth.

In fact, the history of science is full of events, once thought to be supernatural in nature, that have turned out to have perfectly logical explanations.

For example, humans once believed that earthquakes were punishment for humanity’s sins, meted out by angry deities or spirits. Today, however, we know earthquakes are natural events, caused by the movements of tectonic plates. It has nothing to do with humanity’s moral failings.

If something appears to be a miracle, we should see it as a challenge – a challenge to find a natural explanation.