Week 7 - Shannon Trinh

The reading “A New Theory of the Universe” supports my developing theory of what science actually is. Science has always been a mechanism of control for human beings – labeling and defining every little event, equation or system in the universe to feed our need for power, security, and certainty: “Living in an age dominated by science, we have come more and more to believe in an objective, empirical reality and in the goal of reaching a complete understanding of that reality. Part of the thrill that came with the announcement that the human genome had been mapped or with the idea that were are close to understanding the big bang rests in our desire for completeness” (2). Scientists work endlessly for years trying to find the answers to disease, space, and time – so extensively that certain theories and principles continue to be passed down to future generations: “Most of these comprehensive theories are no more than stories that fail to take into account one crucial factor: we are creating them” (3). How can we be so sure of these facts and principles if we are the only beings that have tested them? The example about the glowing worm in the beginning of the reading really struck me – we can put a million organisms and creatures under a microscope, but we will never achieve to understand the experiences of these life forms. We will never be able to recreate or see another species’ existence, yet we try to create these elaborate explanations that imply that this must be the only way to think and perceive our universe.

I remember reading science books ever since I was in the first grade. Textbooks always defined science as “the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.” But after giving this definition, I would read text about what science is NOT, which would be opinions, spiritual/religious beliefs, or something that cannot be observed or tested. I now question these textbook definitions and am disappointed that our ways of perception of the universe has always been tunnel envisioned.

Question: What is so bad about not knowing? Is it part of the human condition? Are we just wired to question, challenge, and control everything? Or has it been molded into our culture – that “intelligence” and “innovation” make our time here on Earth seem valued and worth it? Do we have to know everything? 

Works Cited:

Robert Lanza. “The American Scholar – A New Theory of the Universe.”