Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Science's Critical Missing Element

From Walker Percy's The Moviegoer:

Until recent years, I read only "fundamental'' books, that is, key books on key subjects, such as War and Peace, the novel of novels; A Study of History, the solution of the problem of time; Schroedinger's What is Life?, Einstein's The Universe as I see It, and such. During those years I stood outside the universe and sought to understand it. I lived in my room as an Anyone living Anywhere and read fundamental books and only for diversion took walks around the neighborhood and saw an occasional movie. Certainly it did not matter to me where I was when I read such a book as The Expanding Universe. The greatest success of this enterprise, which I call my vertical search, came one night when I sat in a hotel room in Birmingham and read a book called The Chemistry of Life. When I finished it, it seemed to me that the main goals of my search were reached or were in principle reachable, whereupon I went out and saw a movie called It Happened One Night which was itself very good. A memorable night. The only difficulty was that though the universe had been disposed of, I myself was left over. There I lay in my hotel room with my search over yet still obliged to draw one breath and then the next. (Copied from the Augustine Club)

"...though the universe had been disposed of, I myself was left over."

We find no meaning in the universe because modern science excludes all notion of purpose. Pia de Solenni's concise explanation of why modern science contains no notion of human dignity applies just as well here:

If the concept [of human dignity or purpose] is missing in the original, it can't be anticipated in the result

Should we be surprised at dancing clumsily when we refuse to follow nature's tune?


Added an addendum to post of of Feb 27 The ME Project's Contained Kenosis.

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