An awe-inspiring encounter with another living being is not quantifiable. What I have described to you is only a feeling. My feeling cannot argue with that logic. I have not read the leading literature on the subject, I have no corroborating data, I am not an expert. I want to make it clear that I am not about to demonize science or argue that we abandon objectivity, judgement and reason.
Perspective is a valuable tool for gaining clarity, insight and calm.
I do not wish to minimize the dangers to both individuals and society when we blindly trust every subjective instinct, especially when we impose our subjective experience onto others. Scientific perspective and rational thought have brought immeasurable gifts and penetrating insights. The ability to think and reason, the power of rational inquiry, compartmentalization, testing and analysis have given birth to untold knowledge, invention and individual freedom. It seems we have more control, more understanding and more material abundance that ever before in human history. What we have lost is a way of experiencing ourselves and the world as an organic whole.