I just watched the documentary What the Bleep Do We Know!? in order to get some thinking on quantum physics in. The original documentary I watched is, in my opinion, forgettable. While discussing interesting ideas on particle mechanics and consciousness, the scientists sound a bit too sure of themselves, while leaving obviously apparent their empty spirituality. They're searching to fill a hole they feel, but their explanations are labored.
That said, in the follow up Down the Rabbit Hole edition, there are some pretty cool animations that do a good job of explaining some complex physics ideas. And I love thinking at the fringes of our understanding of our world. So tune in, and enjoy. Here's Dr. Quantum to tell you about the famous double-slit experiment that shows us the 'observer effect':
I think part of the reason that this documentary was so successful is that people are searching for the answers to the ultimate questions of 'Who we are?' and 'Where did we come from?'. And if nothing else, the show gets you thinking about questions that may answer questions we have about our world. But, and here I guess I'll just repeat myself, I think science will ultimately point to God. The question to me is whether people will admit that.
2 comments:
Very cool. For me, I am troubled less by whether people will admit to a god being revealed in convincing ways, I am more interested in what god is.
From my limited studies in theology and being raised in a roman catholic school, god is many things - light, you, me, his son, a big strong man painted on the roof of a chapel, etc. But lack of this conclusive definition leaves scientists with nothing to prove or disprove about his, her, its existence.
Sure we can prove events, which often leads to tension among religious groups - evolution to name one. But it's simply an event and not a declaration of god's existence or lack there of.
In a scientific world, or at least to me, the bible does little to tell me what god is - if not simply personal. Science trying to find god feels to me, like me trying to prove to you that macaroni and cheese is my favorite food. We don't need to prove macaroni and cheese exists, but how do we definitively prove it is my favorite?
I personally like the theories posed by your previous post about 3 planes and 7 planes, etc. Being raised in a roman catholic school, I immediately ignore connecting 7 and 3 to god theories, but find the idea more interesting because it means we may simply be working on a completely different plane and not in another, where perhaps, the idea of favorite, and god, exist...
I am more interested in what god is.
Really that's part of the ultimate question we ask ourselves here on Earth. If there is a God, who is he (she, it?)? Assuming there is, there are certain 'true' parameters as to who he is. That's the neat thing about life and philosophy (unless you're heavily post-modern), things are true or untrue. Ultimately, the earth is either flat or round. God is something or he is not.
So wondering who he is, we have to ask, do any of the religions we have answer that question? Are any of them correct (they contradict each other, so only one can be right)? If so, which one is it?
I was reminded of this post when I read this post on John Piper's site.
Piper notes, "Since all humans are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), and the work of God’s law is written on every heart (Romans 2:15), and the heavens are telling the glory of God to everyone who can see (Psalm 19:1), and God has put eternity in man’s heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11), and by God’s providence every person is set to grope for God (Acts 17:27), and in God we all live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28), it is not surprising that even people without eyes to see the glory of Christ nevertheless have glimpses into the way the world really is, and then don’t know what to do with them."
He goes on to share this tidbit on beauty from a poet that speaks to our wondering:
I just think beauty is irresistible. It disarms us. Takes away our arguments. And then if you expand the notion of beauty—that there is beauty in the tawdry, beauty in ugliness—things get complicated. But I think that beauty, which is more related in my mind to the sublime, is what we cannot resist.
I think that's kind of how I feel about physics, and it points me to God.
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