Why Science Fails To Understand Mysticism

By Leo Gura - December 21, 2025

The only reason science is able to be non-mystical is because it always artificially sets a narrow, partial scope for its explanations. This partiality is mandatory because it allows science to make sense of one part of reality in terms of another part. This only works because it off-loads epistemic responsibility onto another part, leaving it unexplained. The scientist comforts himself by rationalizing, “Well, this is good enough. I’m merely human. Someone else will figure out the rest some day.” Except that day never comes. When a new scientist comes around to figure it out, he will fall into the same trap and also kick the can down the road. Epistemically, science in nothing more than an endless game of the mind kicking the can down the road until you are dead, all the while telling yourself that this approach must work out in the end because, after all, science is true. Except it cannot work out in the end and you merely assume science is true.

This mechanism creates the illusion that reality is non-mystical. But if you take epistemic responsibility for explaining ALL of reality, this sense-making aim is different in kind from what scientists do because you are not allowing yourself to kick the can down the road. As soon as you take responsibility for explaining the existence of Everything, any possibility of a non-mystical explanation dies. Why? Because there exists no part outside of Totality that you can use to define or explain it with. Parts only exist internal to Totality. The only possible explanation is Infinity, and Infinity is necessarily a Mystery. But the scientist does not understand this and cries foul whenever he hears a mystical explanation because his entire career has been a commitment to narrow, partial, technical explanations, and out of sheer conformity he cannot imagine any other way. The scientist has been so brainwashed by the STEM sub-culture to only work on partial, unholistic explanations and to never take total epistemic responsibility that he cannot fathom anything else. Nobody has ever taught a scientist that Total epistemic responsibility is different in kind from the partial epistemic responsibility that he’s been taking his entire career. Moreover, it is deeply hurtful and embarrassing for a scientist to admit that he has been epistemically irresponsible his entire life. He cannot admit that to himself because it would crush his scientific ego. After all, his identity and sense of self is wrapped up with science. He really believes science is truth. Admitting all this would send him into an existential crisis which would disrupt his career. He can’t worry about this “silly” philosophical stuff, he’s got “real” work to do! — exams to grade, grant money to get, grad students to manage, admin meetings to attend, papers to publish.

The essential difference between me and any scientist is that I take TOTAL epistemic responsibility for accounting for ALL of Reality. This sounds like a small difference, but it makes all the difference. No scientist does this. The STEM sub-culture does not teach this and they are all conforming to that sub-culture. Which is why they can never understand God or mysticism. God is Totality. Which is why science cannot see it. Science is not Total by its own definition and science does not understand why this matters. Science thinks it’s okay to not be Total. No, it’s not okay. That means you will never outsmart Maya. All that Maya needs to outsmart you is to be more total than you.

Epistemic responsibility is no joke. Do you take TOTAL responsibility for understanding Reality? If not, Maya has already won.

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