A UNIVERSAL ARTIST

As more and more powerful telescopes look into the cosmos, the more our astronomers and cosmologists claim to know about the universe. But is our growing knowledge as simple as that?
One thing that worries me is the fact that any new discovery seems to offer a great deal of excitement, but only mild surprise. It is as if whatever is found fits quite neatly into our view of things.

One answer to this is that our theories are right.

We have a good grasp of the universal construct. We are on the right track, and soon everything will be disclosed. But there is another answer.
This concerns the nature of what we can know. For instance, many ‘realities’ could be out there, but we are only capable of imagining a certain set of principles. Even if the result of them was there to be seen, we would miss them.

Consider our senses.

They have limits. We cannot have the sensual acuity of a dog, for instance. Neither can we sense things like a bat. We are limited in knowing what we can sense and experience.
This is why we have technology to measure things, such as those powerful telescopes. But even here, they can be limited in a similar way to sensory us. In effect, they can only ‘see’ what we can conceive can be seen. They are only built to extend what we can already experience, and not create new experience.

The universe we see is therefore an image of our imaginings.

But what is the nature of the knowledge that accrues from our imaginings? Well, if the above is correct, we can say that it is very limited. And a little knowledge is famed for producing what can be classed as the delusional.
Now, I don’t mean this in a way that suggests that our cosmologists, etc, are mad. But a little knowledge does suggest that they may fill in the pieces with ideas that are closer to ‘belief’ than rationality.

People who believe things can become evangelical.

We see this all the time in fundamentalist religious movements. And it is becoming clear to many on the sidelines of science that a similar thing is happening.
It is increasingly difficult to go against the ‘consensus’ of a scientific idea that has taken hold of the collective imagination. And increasingly it is looking like modern science is a process of consensus rather than rational investigation.

This all suggests that those telescopes are echoing a belief.

Indeed, quantum theory allows for this eventuality. In the ‘observer effect’, what ‘is’ is the result of our ability to observe and define. The universe bends to our mind-models.
We can now see what we know in a different light. We can see those telescopes more as artist’s brushes, sculpting a picture of the universe from our minds. Which leaves an intriguing question. When we actually go ‘out there’, will the universe ‘be’ as we imagined it to be?
If so, it appears we will be the creators of our own universe. We will have become gods.

© Anthony North, May 2008

WHAT HE SAW IN OUTER SPACE

He saw it, there, in outer space,
an anomalous form, so out of place;
Come here, he said, see what I’ve found,
and colleagues came to compound,
this marvellous sight in his telescope,
and new theories he did invoke,
of our enigmatic universe in all its glory,
rewriting our marvellous universal story;
But come the day it disappeared from view,
doubts began to be cast anew;
Soon after that, they began to scoff,
not noticing the cleaner
had wiped the stain off

(c) Anthony North, May 2008

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Fiction Xtra – PLANET ZERO

The Explorer looked down upon the battle-scarred planet. He could see all the signs of high civilization. Cities, highways, everything an advanced culture required. Yet, it had all been reduced to rubble years ago.
The thought entered his head that he should pass this planet by, but the insatiable curiosity of the human got the better of him. What had brought a civilization to this? And could it teach us anything about ourselves?
He had not landed long when he found himself surrounded by heavily armed humanoids. Immediately suspicious of him, their aggression was obvious. Indeed, he thought he was going to die there and then. And no doubt would have if another group of humanoids had not approached and opened fire.

The battle didn’t last long.

There were casualties on both sides, but the first group withdrew, leaving the Explorer with the second.
He asked why they fought, and the answer was typical. Something in their deep past had happened – they could not remember what – and the god-form, Consensus, demanded the battle carried on. Indeed, the only thing he could definitely find out was that the enemy was ‘different’.
This puzzled the Explorer, as over the coming weeks it became obvious that both sides were identical in every way.
His opportunity to stop the madness came a month into his time on the planet. Following a battle, a group of wounded from both sides were resting close to the battlefield. It was with relief that they saw the Explorer shake hands with each in turn and say: ‘friend.’
It took but a week for Consensus to die, and reason to be born.

(c) Anthony North, May 2008

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