science as inspiration
In my relatively short experience in academia, I have noticed one trend that tends to separate those in the Natural Sciences and those who are not. As in anything else, there are exceptions, but it seems to me that those with first-hand experience in the quantitative sciences understand that Science just might be the best tool we have in figuring out some of the most intractable questions for human kind – What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? Is there a God? etc.. On the other hand, those without experience in the quantitative sciences seem to think that the Natural Sciences are simply cold, hard facts – with no inspiration or spirit, and is doomed to explain only the nitty-gritty facts with numbers and charts. This is simply not true. Perhaps the most important contribution by Science to humanity is its ability to give definite, concrete answers to the questions philosophers and humanists have only been able to ponder about.
While those philosophical questions may seem simply rhetorical and un-answerable anyways, they are actually quite tractable and answerable through rigorous experimentation and logical deduction. Take the question “Is there a God?” for example. This is, in essence, a scientific hypothesis, because a world without God is observably a different universe than one with a God. (This is, of course, assuming that your definition of “God” is sufficient to yield such observable differences. If your definition of God is not as strong, than certainly it is not the belief of mainstream Christianity, Judaism, or Islam, hence of less concern.)
Of course some of these questions have already begun to be answered. The question “Why are we here?” was answered definitely by Darwin – we are here because of evolution. Now, I understand that some people mean more than that when they ask “Why are we here?”. But such pseudo-philosophical waxing is BS. The only meaningful interpretation of the question “Why are we here?” is to literally answer it with brute facts. Of course, another mistake many make is that such a brute fact-based answer is either demeaning or uncomfortable. Well, even if it were, that has no bearing on the veracity of the answer. And I don’t think it’s all that demeaning to begin with. In fact, it’s awe-inspiring that we could be here as a product of such a beautiful and elegant process like evolution. And those who claim otherwise apparently lack the imagination to grasp the austere beauty of the intricate and elegant universe around us.
