“Remember, young one. It’s OK to question and try to understand more. It’s in our nature to be curious. It’s how we advance as a species. But, realize that understanding can only take you so far. Faith will take you the rest of the way.”
Jesuit school teacher, my high school, many moons ago
Have you ever taken the time to learn more about the universe and how it came to be? It’s a subject that fascinates me. It always has. It’s a subject that your kids may one day ask you about. Like me, you too may be fascinated.
Theoretical physics is the study of our world in an attempt to understand and explain it. It’s incredibly complex and is pursued by this world’s most brilliant minds. It is from theoretical physics that we get the leading scientific explanations of the origin of our universe. It is the study that gave birth to a theory called the Multiverse Theory.
The latest issue of Discovery Magazine has a wonderful article that explains this theory in layman’s terms (so that is how I think I understand it). The theory bases itself as an explanation to why our universe seems tailor-made for us (life as we know it). You see, theoretical physicists have noted that the universe has too many coincidences that allow for like to grow. Way too many for a simple “coincidence” explanation thereby leading to the question, “How can this universe be perfectly tailored to us?”
The thing that I find funny is how the supporters of the Multiverse Theory find it so impossible to consider that the answer may lie in faith (i.e., an intelligent creator). They refuse to acknowledge that understanding and science has taken them as far as it can take them and it is faith that will take them the rest of the way.
The only other explanation these theorists come up with is theorizing that there are an infinite number of universes along with ours. And, with all those iterations, we are lucky enough to live in one that has the exact requisites for maintaining life as we know it. In other words, with so many possibilities, coincidence is still the explanation for all things being right in this universe for life as we know it.
The article has a great explanation of the issue:
Physicists don’t like coincidences. They like even less the notion that life is somehow central to the universe, and yet recent discoveries are forcing them to confront that very idea. Life, it seems, is not an incidental component of the universe, burped up out of a random chemical brew on a lonely planet to endure for a few fleeting ticks of the cosmic clock. In some strange sense, it appears that we are not adapted to the universe; the universe is adapted to us.
I find that when science meets spirituality or religion, science always seems to focus on finding an alternative explanation. Oh well, lets wait and see what the Large Hadron Collider tests reveal…
In the end, I find a balanced person should do their best to understand science and explore their spirituality. It doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game where one side wins over the other. Both can co-exist in harmony.
What do you think?
All the best
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Should not have read this before my morning coffee.
In a nutshell: I’m a diehard objectivist, which makes being agnostic difficult, but I just can’t see how cold, hard logic can go hand in hand with a belief in something that can’t be explained.
I can see the beauty of a balanced mathematical equation, and the feeling of accomplishment and awe in the infinite wisdom of the cosmos, but I just don’t see why all that has to be attributed to a jewish carpenter, an overweight asian man, a multi-limbed creature, or a bunch of flying noodles.
Good article though. Thanks for making me think so early in the morning. Now my head hurts
thedemigod´s last blog post..7 Weird Demigod Widgets
And although I don’t have any kids, I cannot WAIT to have my own, and I’m torn.
I can’t even answer the basic question of whether or not I should tell them about Santa Clause, much less science vs spirituality.
Oy vey. I need tylenol.
thedemigod´s last blog post..7 Weird Demigod Widgets
Hey TDG,
Thanks for your comments! And, sorry about the headache!
The interesting, if not ironic, thing is that if other universes exist, there will never be any way to prove it as we are stuck in this one. If will be a kind of belief in something we can’t prove…sounds awfully like spirituality.
All the best
I love this article. It pretty much sums up everything I believe. Knowledge is great, faith is better. God Bless.
Upstatemom´s last blog post..Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
Great article! I like that you state it doesn’t have to be a sum-zero game. No easy answers. I believe there is a Creator, a Prime Force, as it were, but I also love physics – the quantum, hard-to-read about stuff. It’s all so elegant, while we are stuck in tiny 3-D minds that cannot comprehend where all this could come together, or other dimensions, or a Being who lives outside of all of that.
A shame, isn’t it?
gina b´s last blog post..In passing
how about starting with the truth and saying “dunno”…
cuz we don’t really do we???
each complete the other methinks… we just gotta find a balance no???
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I love the fact that you are Jesuit trained. Tenacity at it’s best! Thanks for the twitter follow.
WeaselMomma´s last blog post..Get Those Reindeer Off My Lawn!
I’d love to believe this, as it validates my beliefs, but I can’t help but suggest an alternate explanation. Perhaps we have the causality a bit backwards. The universe isn’t tailor-made for us, but rather, we exist only because it appears to. Put another way, you could say that the Earth was made for us because there’s oxygen, but you could also say that were there no oxygen we wouldn’t be here to realize it. So similarly, if the universe wasn’t perfectly made for us we wouldn’t exist to comment on it.
Kevin´s last blog post..The more things change…