Faith.
Not religous faith, but the faith that comes from knowing we've applied the scientific method and all of the tools available to try and understand. We've got to come to a point where we say we've done the best we can, with the available tools, and still don't for certain understand everything there is in the Universe.
One of my favorite lines in a movie came from Star Trek VI. Spock tells Volaris. "Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end." "You must have faith that the Universe will turn out as it should."
That doesn't mean we quit trying.
I wonder if the scientists who designed the Atomic bomb knew for sure, relativistically speaking, that it would work? After all, designing a bomb, broken down to it's simplest parts, is an exercise in Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering. I'm sure there came a point where they had to run on faith. Faith that they understood the process well enough to make it work. Could they prove before setting off a demo that it would work? No. They had faith in their understanding of the Physics involved to make a judgement about whether it would work, but still, there must have been some lingering doubt.
Do we really need to know with relativistic certainty why things are the way they are? I don't think so. It would cut out a lot of life's fun, little, surprises.
Damn keyboard!:|
Not religous faith, but the faith that comes from knowing we've applied the scientific method and all of the tools available to try and understand. We've got to come to a point where we say we've done the best we can, with the available tools, and still don't for certain understand everything there is in the Universe.
One of my favorite lines in a movie came from Star Trek VI. Spock tells Volaris. "Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end." "You must have faith that the Universe will turn out as it should."
That doesn't mean we quit trying.
I wonder if the scientists who designed the Atomic bomb knew for sure, relativistically speaking, that it would work? After all, designing a bomb, broken down to it's simplest parts, is an exercise in Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering. I'm sure there came a point where they had to run on faith. Faith that they understood the process well enough to make it work. Could they prove before setting off a demo that it would work? No. They had faith in their understanding of the Physics involved to make a judgement about whether it would work, but still, there must have been some lingering doubt.
Do we really need to know with relativistic certainty why things are the way they are? I don't think so. It would cut out a lot of life's fun, little, surprises.
Damn keyboard!:|