/lit/ - Literature

Why do some people (notably philosophers and theists) reject a perception of reality based on empirical evidence which has been proven to be reliable time after time? I mean, most Philosophy, Literature and Theology undergrads I have ever met believe in things that cannot be empirically proven to exist, such as, for example, an afterlife, an immaterial soul, that kind of thing. They also tend to dismiss any empirical answers to the questions they ask. For example, we have the empirical answer to questions like "what is the meaning of life?", "why are we here?", "what happens after we die?" and "where do we come from?", but the second you actually give these people the answer they claim to be looking for, they mumble "b-but..." and proceed to argue against the idea of a system that searches for higher truths through empiricism, despite the several benefits this same system has given mankind. Personally, I find it a bit sad that many people who claim to be well read turn a blind eye against reality as it presents itself with bullshit like "meaning", "god", "soul", "purpose", "philosophy" and that kind of thing.

What does /lit/ think?