Right off the bat I
want to apologise for the shortness of this entry. Honestly the same
old work commitments completely put the blog out of my mind until the
last minute (well actually they've been putting almost everything
out). Anyhow, with some recent progress came free time and with that
comes the opportunity to write about a fun little subject I've been
thinking about for a while.
Science and religion
seem to be seen as opposing influences more and more often these
days. These disagreements stem from the fact that either being
religious is seen as anathema to logical scientific work or that
areas where science disagrees with religions merely demonstrate how
dangerous it is. I could make a long winded case showing that this
is true, but perhaps it's easier to say that it is, to me, obvious
that these two different systems of belief (of living even) are
clearly not aligned whereas I think they should be.
This idea came from the
fact that again and again I was reading scientists and mathematicians
talking about when they truly understood some essential law of
nature, it was like contacting something higher. Not necessarily a
higher being or power, but a higher sense of order and wonder.
There is a great documentary about the mathematician Paul Erdös, N
is a number, where he makes this point very eloquently. He
completely dedicated his life to maths and the discovery of new ways
of understanding it, and he talks about how in maths, on the one hand
there are great proofs, which are extremely elegant and beautiful,
and on the other there are clumsy, clunky ones. When you see an
elegant proof, he says, then you are seeing the one which God has
written down in his notebook.
I think if you asked
many deeply religious people how to get closest to god, they would
probably say you should do his work, preach the word and do
kind/charitable acts. However I think what better way is there to be
close to God than to see, to rediscover even for yourself, one of the
basic rules which he set in place in creating this reality. Surely
in the careful balance and elegance of those rules he has left just a
small measure of his signature.
I am sure that some
would see what I'm saying as heretical, that God told us pray, so we
should pray. Honestly though, if you believe in Him, then surely you
can see that he left these markers in place in such a way that we
could, not only find them again and again, but also that finding them
would improve humanity in such a huge and far reaching way.
This then, is my final
point. I think there is local charity, feeding, clothing and caring
for those who need it, and certainly that is wonderful. Science
though is a kind of charity which is just as rarefied. Scientists
don't expect great credit (look at Norman
Borlaug whose work saved millions from starving... then ask
yourself why you've never heard of him). Certainly they also don't
expect to get paid great sums. Yet still, scientific advancements
are huge force in the improvement of life for all humanity (take
modern medicine, mobile phones, electricity, there are any number of
examples to choose from).
Surely for any
religious person then, by taking part in new discoveries, you are not
only helping people in a meek and humble way, but you are also
bringing yourself as close to the heart of God's creation, to his
very indent upon our universe, as you will ever be able to get.
Obviously it's hyperbole to say all religious people should be
scientists, still now that I have this perspective I can't think of
anything more holy, nor any pursuit which religions ought to be more
deeply in favour of.
No comments:
Post a Comment