I very much enjoyed your latest essay. It put me in mind of my own philosophy regarding science. I myself have a degree in chemistry, but I am also a believer in Christianity. Religion is essentially a philosophical model that helps us to understand the World around us.
In the Catholic church my wife and I attend we have recently started reciting the Nicene Creed in place of the Apostles’ Creed. I much prefer the Nicene Creed because it provides such a compact and concise explanation for how the World should be viewed.
“I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth, of all things visible and invisible.”
Later, we recite, “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.”
What these words teach us is our relation to the physical universe that we inhabit. First, we are told that the universe was created, and that while we can see many things about it, there are things that are unseen and unseeable by us. Later, we are informed that there is a force that not only gives shape to the universe but gives life to everything in it. We are also told that there is a moral truth that is not created by us but is given to us by a higher power.
Many scientists make the claim that the universe is ruled by physics and mathematics. To me these people are fools. The universe is ruled by whatever rules the universe. I like to call that thing God. What many fail to understand is that science and mathematics are inventions of mankind. They are tools that we have created to help us understand our observations of the physical universe. All the physical tools we use to measure the universe were created by us. The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second, or so we are told. In fact, miles and seconds are arbitrary measures of distance and time that humans invented for our own purposes. Light travels at the speed it travels. We measure astronomical distances in light years, or how far light travels in a year, 5.88 trillion miles. Like miles, years are an arbitrary human invention. In reality the universe is as big as it is.
Our scientific and mathematical tools are excellent for describing events that have already transpired. Often, they can be used to make predictions about future events that are useful to us. But, at bottom our scientific and mathematical tools cannot explain why these events happened, or what their ultimate purpose is. They can explain the physical processes that keep us alive, but they cannot tell us why we live. They can map our brains but cannot tell us what consciousness is. Our scientific and mathematical tools have helped us to unlock the secrets of the atom, but they cannot inform the proper use of that knowledge. We can watch in real time the development of an embryo to a human baby, but our science cannot explain our attachment to that baby. These things are the realm of philosophy and religion. Science and mathematics untethered from philosophy and religion are sterile and barren.
One of my favorite lines from Clint Eastwood is one he had in his second “Dirty Harry” movie. “A good man has got to know his limitations.” Philosophy and religion place us in proper relation to the universe and thereby help us to understand exactly what our science and mathematics can and cannot do. By understanding the limitations of science and mathematics, we are able to make better use of them as tools to improve the human condition.
