It is important to emphasize that materialists cannot provide theoretical or practical proof that "matter is the fundamental substance of the world in nature." Some may ask if science is a form of materialism, but it is not. Science is the study of categorized subjects that aim to discover the laws governing things, which differs from materialism. Both science and Buddhism share a common goal of seeking truth. While materialism may have contributed to the development of science and science may seem to support materialism, there is no definitive evidence that the world is entirely composed of matter. Materialism is a cognitive philosophy that perceives matter as the fundamental substance, with spirit as a byproduct of material interactions. It is critical to differentiate between materialism and science because opposing materialism does not equate to opposing science, as some may assume.
There Is No Mutual Proof
As said earlier, in science, there are two observational approaches: mathematical reasoning and experiment. Experiment must be repeatable. There is a third observational method called the mutual proof, which can be explained by the following example: There is a cup here on the table. You can see it. I can see it. Everyone in this room can see it. This way the existence of the cup is proved. This is the mutual proof.
As mentioned earlier, science has two observational approaches: mathematical reasoning and experimentation. Experiments in science must be repeatable for their results to be considered reliable. There is also a third observational method known as mutual proof, which can be illustrated using the example of a cup on a table. If multiple individuals, including yourself, can see the cup, its existence can be considered mutually proven.
Buddhism argues that the mutual proof cannot be established and is, in fact, a pseudo mutual proof. This is because what you perceive as a cup may not be the same as what I perceive as a cup. Rather than claiming that we see the same cup, it should be phrased as seeing similarities. Through a scientific approach, we can understand that the cup you see is actually a visual signal formed in your posterior thalamus. Light patterns reflecting off the cup are gathered by your eyes and transmitted to your retina, eventually forming the image of the cup in your brain. The cup I see undergoes the same process and is also a visual signal formed in my posterior thalamus. What you see is your unique signal, and what I see is mine. Therefore, these two visual signals may not be identical, raising the question of whether there is a real objective thing out there.
Buddhism challenges the concept of objective reality, as it recognizes that what we perceive and experience is unique to each individual. While similarities in perception allow for repeatability in scientific experimentation, mutual proof is not a means of validating true cognition, as differences in perception are inherent and can never be fully eliminated. For instance, it is impossible to mutually validate the depth and intensity of one's emotions, such as love. External expressions of love, such as gifts or actions, cannot fully represent or prove the internal feeling. For example, in a scenario where a billionaire and a poor man both fall in love with the same girl and offer different gifts, it is difficult to determine who loves the girl more based solely on their external actions. The poor man's gift of five dollars may represent everything he has, while the billionaire's gift of ten million dollars may be a small fraction of their vast wealth. Additionally, people's emotions and feelings can change over time, making it impossible to establish a definitive mutual proof.
Buddhism rejects the idea of a universally accepted objective standard for validating internal experiences, leading to the development of its own study of epistemology.
Excerpted from: Buddhist Worldview and Modern Life
