Music:
Member Since: 12/29/2006
Band Members: Kevin O'Connor all instruments, vocals and programing.
Influences:
SUPPORTING SCIENCE – INVESTING IN THE BIG QUESTIONS
JOHN TEMPLETON FOUNDATION
This is the first in a series of conversations about the “big questions†that the John Templeton Foundation is
conducting among leading scientists and scholars.
DOES THE UNIVERSE HAVE A PURPOSE?
Unlikely,
Perhaps you hoped for a stronger statement,
one way or the other. But as a scientist
I don’t believe I can make one. While
nothing in biology, chemistry, physics,
geology, astronomy, or cosmology has
ever provided direct evidence of purpose
in nature, science can never unambiguously prove that there
is no such purpose. As Carl Sagan said, in another context:
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
Of course, nothing would stop science from uncovering
positive evidence of divine guidance and purpose if it were
attainable. For example, tomorrow night if we look up at
the stars and they have been rearranged into a pattern that
reads, “I am here,†I think even the most hard-nosed scientific
skeptic would suspect something was up.
But no such unambiguous signs have been uncovered among
the millions and millions of pieces of data we have gleaned
about the natural world over centuries of exploration. And
this is precisely why a scientist can conclude that it is very
unlikely that there is any divine purpose. If a creator had
such a purpose, she could choose to demonstrate it a little
more clearly to the inhabitants of her creation.
One is always free, as some people do, to interpret the laws
of nature as signs of purpose, as for example Pope Pius did
when Belgian physicist-priest George Lemaitre demonstrated
that Einstein’s general theory of relativity implied
the universe had a beginning. The Pope interpreted this as
scientific proof of Genesis, but Lemaitre asked him to stop
saying this. The big bang, as it has become known, can be
interpreted in terms of a divine beginning, but it can equally
be interpreted as removing God from the equation entirely.
The conclusion is in the mind of the beholder, and it is outside
of the realm of scientific theory and prediction.
Finally, even if the universe has a hidden purpose, everything
we know about the cosmos suggests that we do not
play a central role in it. We are, as a planet, cosmically insignificant.
Life on Earth will end, as it has probably done on
countless planets in the past, and will do in the future. And
all the stars and all the galaxies we see could disappear in
an instant and the universe would go on behaving more or
less as it is doing right now. Nature seems as uncaring as it
is unyielding.
Thus, organized religions, which put humanity at the center
of some divine plan, seem to assault our dignity and intelligence.
A universe without purpose should neither depress
us nor suggest that our lives are purposeless. Through an
awe-inspiring cosmic history we find ourselves on this remote
planet in a remote corner of the universe, endowed
with intelligence and self-awareness. We should not despair,
but should humbly rejoice in making the most of these gifts,
and celebrate our brief moment in the sun.
Lawrence M. Krauss is Professor of Physics and Astronomy at
Case Western Reserve University.
Sounds Like: Why don't you tell me in your comments.....
Record Label: Self produced
Type of Label: None
