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The Donkey's Question as Scientific Method

Using deliberate naïveté and questioning to reveal hidden assumptions in scientific and spiritual thinking.

Nas
Why It Matters

Nasreddin Hodja's famous questions—often appearing foolish on the surface—mirror the scientific method's core function: challenging assumptions. In Scientific naturalism as spirituality, we encounter the trap of treating naturalism itself as dogma rather than methodology. The Hodja teaches us to ask "obvious" questions that expose where we've stopped thinking: Why do we assume consciousness cannot emerge from matter? Why must spirituality require the supernatural? By adopting the Hodja's playful questioning stance, practitioners learn to examine their naturalistic worldview with the same rigor they'd apply to any religious doctrine. This practice transforms scientific inquiry from mere information-gathering into genuine spiritual exploration, where wonder and skepticism become inseparable.

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