So what makes us believe in radio frequency waves but not in a soul? Maybe because we can measure, record and manipulate the things we believe in. Or we are presented with a reasonable argument by someone whose intelligence has been measured and recorded to be sufficiently good. Our collective intelligence has gone beyond the point of trusting only our senses to comprehend a phenomenon. We now treat instruments and data, in addition to eyes and ears to send recognition signals to the brain. When I am first told that the universe is made of tiny stringy invisible matter, I dismiss it as hogwash. But when scientists show me measurements done in dimensions I can understand, I slowly open up to the idea even though I still cannot see it myself. So it is sort of dumbing down of the entire phenomenon in order to make myself understand it.
I love the concept of Flatland and use it every time I come across an idea too ridiculous. How would the 2 dimensional Flat people react to, say, an octopus? If they were as "highly evolved" as us, they would try to measure and manipulate it in their own silly way. One Flat scientist may measure the length (mind you, they cannot see both length and width) and another may have different results at another part of Flatland. They may conclude that the octopus is some kind of a mobile flat object with varying length at various points. It is an okay explanation for someone with only two dimensions to work with. But only when they realise that there is another dimension out there, they will be able to see the octopus for what it really looks like, well according to us 3D people anyway! But it isn't as easy as yelling at them to "look up, you idiot!", the idea that there are additional views to their world is beyond comprehension.
Thinkers extrapolate this concept to our world so that we open our minds to what is unknown. Because it seems like we are stuck through no fault of our own, in a limiting set of beliefs about the universe. Are there additional dimensions? Do parallel universes exist in our time-space reality? Is time travel really possible? Even these questions are framed out of our obsessive need to define everything in terms of what we know, which is an okay explanation for someone with three dimensions to work with? Maybe in our case looking 'up' is looking 'in', maybe that is where our answers lie... Who knows really? On the bright side, such concepts are generally understood in a flash, like gravity, a sudden realization. We just need to keep our head exposed so an apple can fall on it! Oh how I wait for that moment!
