I did not intend to slight C.S. Lewis in favor of Aldous Huxley in my earlier blog today. While working on the manuscript of another book, I came across a quotation from Lewis I had included that seems appropriate to the discussion. Relating to the changes in thinking that must occur if we are to move away from our destructive behavior, Lewis wrote:
“In every age the human mind is deeply influenced by the accepted Model of the universe. . . . It is not impossible that our own Model will die a violent death, ruthlessly smashed by an unproved assault of new facts. . . . But I think it is more likely to change when, and because, far-reaching changes in the mental temper of our descendants demand that it should. The new Model will not be set up without evidence but the evidence will turn up when the inner need for it becomes sufficiently great. It will be true evidence. But nature gives most of her evidence in answer to the questions we ask her. Here, as in the courts, the character of the evidence depends on the shape of the examination, and a good cross-examiner can do wonders.”
