Out There and Back
warning, you might want some caffeine
second version, because the first was scaring people off...
This morning I was reading an article in the Economist about more stunning revelations about the nature of dark energy in the universe.
I find topics of this type absolutely fascinating. Which is ironic because I almost failed Physics in uni. I dated my lab professor, a sweet, naïve little theology student, in order to pass. Tutoring is great.
I digress. But apparently the universe doesn't. According to the article, only 30% ish of the universe is made up of matter that our human senses understand. The rest is dark energy. And of this dark energy, a portion is dark matter. Scientists are using orbiting space crafts dotted around the universe to pick up signs, on a nuclear level, of dark energy. And they keep learning more about this substance, rather than it being disproved, by inferring what it is like based on the behaviour of matter we can "see" or test from a physics perspective.
My mind begins to explode with different lines of thought which are connected to discoveries such as this (caution, assumptions are slippery when wet). As living beings, we define our experience through our senses. Yet our senses do not pick up a majority of what the universe, that thing that we live in, consists of. Are there living beings out there that have senses to pick up what we don't? I believe in God, not the Judeo-Christian God, but a less humanised spiritual power that created everything. But I also believe in other non-human beings, such as angels. I do believe that God has scienter.
So, for me, when reading information about dark energy, I think, why did God create us (and not in the Genesis version) with senses that are so limited. Along that theme, why is it that our brain's capacity limits us to understand intrinsically the way the universe works, the full breath of meaning of the big bang, the size of the universe, in the same way that we can feel a piece cloth under our fingers? If you can grasp the concept of the size of the universe, please tell me how you do it. Are there other beings that can accept and understand all? For me, I would make an assumption that angels do. But what about beings that exist in the world of ours (non-dark energy), but can co-exist or sense the other.
Does anyone else think that it is phenomenal, that of all the substance that makes up the soupy universe that we exist in, we can't detect a majority of it? It is like being on a boat and knowing there is something beneath the blue green waves but you will never know what. Anyhew....
I know it is but Tuesday, but how often do you ponder the origin of the universe? Let's all watch Donnie Darko again and discuss. Or your favourite movie exploring multi dimensional themes.
second version, because the first was scaring people off...
This morning I was reading an article in the Economist about more stunning revelations about the nature of dark energy in the universe.
I find topics of this type absolutely fascinating. Which is ironic because I almost failed Physics in uni. I dated my lab professor, a sweet, naïve little theology student, in order to pass. Tutoring is great.
I digress. But apparently the universe doesn't. According to the article, only 30% ish of the universe is made up of matter that our human senses understand. The rest is dark energy. And of this dark energy, a portion is dark matter. Scientists are using orbiting space crafts dotted around the universe to pick up signs, on a nuclear level, of dark energy. And they keep learning more about this substance, rather than it being disproved, by inferring what it is like based on the behaviour of matter we can "see" or test from a physics perspective.
My mind begins to explode with different lines of thought which are connected to discoveries such as this (caution, assumptions are slippery when wet). As living beings, we define our experience through our senses. Yet our senses do not pick up a majority of what the universe, that thing that we live in, consists of. Are there living beings out there that have senses to pick up what we don't? I believe in God, not the Judeo-Christian God, but a less humanised spiritual power that created everything. But I also believe in other non-human beings, such as angels. I do believe that God has scienter.
So, for me, when reading information about dark energy, I think, why did God create us (and not in the Genesis version) with senses that are so limited. Along that theme, why is it that our brain's capacity limits us to understand intrinsically the way the universe works, the full breath of meaning of the big bang, the size of the universe, in the same way that we can feel a piece cloth under our fingers? If you can grasp the concept of the size of the universe, please tell me how you do it. Are there other beings that can accept and understand all? For me, I would make an assumption that angels do. But what about beings that exist in the world of ours (non-dark energy), but can co-exist or sense the other.
Does anyone else think that it is phenomenal, that of all the substance that makes up the soupy universe that we exist in, we can't detect a majority of it? It is like being on a boat and knowing there is something beneath the blue green waves but you will never know what. Anyhew....
I know it is but Tuesday, but how often do you ponder the origin of the universe? Let's all watch Donnie Darko again and discuss. Or your favourite movie exploring multi dimensional themes.
posted by miss goLondon at 9:47 AM
4 Comments:
I don't think it's unusual at all. The generic male response would be to either (a) ignore it or (b) try and measure it. Wondering about the vastness of the universe is, however, totally futile and pointless. Much more important to understand your own universe (and I'd argue with those who say you can learn at a cosmic level what you don't study at a micro level).
That said, one of my favourite explanations for the seeing/not-seeing of spirits is that they are visible at a different wavelength to 'normal' people.
lovin' the comment. thanks. and i wouldn't argue with you. still have not converted to lilac porridge btw, but the dried ones do nicely.
oh, and "secret monk"? i hope you explain at some point. v intriguing.
I ponder it often... for some reason I missed my vocation when I was younger, because I'm fascinated by astrophysics generally, and by some of the more recent advances like quantum mechanics, string theory, etc.
I don't share you belief system, and am a devout atheist some days whilst merely a confused agnostic on others, but there's plenty to wonder at whether you incorporate any kind of theology or not.
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