[Continuing the theme of my previous 3 logs..]
Modern Science has served us well to explain how things work, though major questions remain in the realm of the Universe, Physics and the Living World and Evolution. In some cases logic itself seems to break down - particularly when the cause and effect question is surrendered in acceptance of the perennial existence (conservation) of Matter and Energy.
All the same, a lot is owed to modern science. It has lifted millions out of the misery of diseases like malaria, cholera, yellow fever and the like, made mass communication possible and helped us manage our lives better, not to mention live longer.
Where modern science has not shone as much, is in explaining the "WHY" part - the motivation behind facts that have been observed and attributed to laws. Why did the universe come into being? Why is evolution guided by a principle of improving living beings (contrary to law of entropy)? Why does an abstract thing called the 'mind' affect the body ? and so on.
Then there are the "eternal questions of faith and philosophy": Is there a creator or governor of this universe? Why are the laws of physics so? Why is there such a thing as a negative charge and a positive charge? Why do masses exert a pull on each other (gravity)? Are our actions also governed by laws ("you reap what you sow")? Are there other universes?
The last question is actually a question of science now, not just a philosophical question as people of science ponder about 'white holes' (with black holes seemingly abundant esp. at the center of galaxies) , the quirky concepts of string theory and the mystery of Dark Energy.
With this backdrop and inventory of science, we'll seek to examine the statements of the Vedas and how they stand the scrutiny of modern science.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
A Quick Inventory of Modern Science. Part 3 - The living world
Continuing my inventory of modern scientific beliefs and boundaries(see Part I and Part II), here's Part III.
Living beings are the most complex and diverse creations and modern science has less firm a foundation in this domain than the Physics and Universe.
On The Living World:
- Modern scientific belief subscribes to the Darwininan theory which states that all living beings have evolved from primitive to progressively advanced forms. This is a theory based on deductive reasoning which is not quite on the same sure footing as the laws of motion because evolution cannot be observed for a fact. However, it is believed to be the most plausible theory.
- While modern scientific theory tries to explain that evolution is guided by the notion of survival of the fittest, it does not explain why the universe in its grand scheme seeks to improve the lot of the living being. As such, why does the notion of better and better species run contrary to the principle of increasing entropy ("disorder") in the universe ?
- Modern science believes that living being is fundamentally a chemical entity : a living body is a complex laboratory of matter in motion and transformation, managed by a computer called brain both voluntarily and involuntarily (involuntary like the central nervous system).
- In comparison to a computer, notions like 'Voluntary' and 'Involuntary' are hard to explain because volition pertains to 'thought' which is purely a concept (hard to explain) and these notions do not map to a computer's functioning. (A computer has no 'volition'). Modern Science is unable to answer the following questions well : If a thought manifests due to a series of neurons firing in the brain, what is the physical difference between a 'voluntary thought' versus an 'involuntary thought' ? Also, what is mind and the relationship between mind, brain and rest of the body?
- Modern science acknowledges the impact of thoughts or 'state of mind' on the body. 'Mind-body medicine' is not only recognized by the establishment, but a major therapeutic area.
Yet the concept and workings of the mind are not quite explained by physiology and run contrary to the grain of the scientific method as 'mind' is not a physically recognizable or measurable entity.
- Modern scientific belief postulates that all human actions are driven by the desire to fullfil human needs - mostly driven by the 'instinct' for survival, in accordance with the theory of evolution. The evolutionary theory accepted by Modern Science doesn't do well to explain why human beings sometimes act to sacrifice's one's own life for the benefit of others. Logically, sacrifice of one's own life for another/others would be a delusional act.
Living beings are the most complex and diverse creations and modern science has less firm a foundation in this domain than the Physics and Universe.
On The Living World:
- Modern scientific belief subscribes to the Darwininan theory which states that all living beings have evolved from primitive to progressively advanced forms. This is a theory based on deductive reasoning which is not quite on the same sure footing as the laws of motion because evolution cannot be observed for a fact. However, it is believed to be the most plausible theory.
- While modern scientific theory tries to explain that evolution is guided by the notion of survival of the fittest, it does not explain why the universe in its grand scheme seeks to improve the lot of the living being. As such, why does the notion of better and better species run contrary to the principle of increasing entropy ("disorder") in the universe ?
- Modern science believes that living being is fundamentally a chemical entity : a living body is a complex laboratory of matter in motion and transformation, managed by a computer called brain both voluntarily and involuntarily (involuntary like the central nervous system).
- In comparison to a computer, notions like 'Voluntary' and 'Involuntary' are hard to explain because volition pertains to 'thought' which is purely a concept (hard to explain) and these notions do not map to a computer's functioning. (A computer has no 'volition'). Modern Science is unable to answer the following questions well : If a thought manifests due to a series of neurons firing in the brain, what is the physical difference between a 'voluntary thought' versus an 'involuntary thought' ? Also, what is mind and the relationship between mind, brain and rest of the body?
- Modern science acknowledges the impact of thoughts or 'state of mind' on the body. 'Mind-body medicine' is not only recognized by the establishment, but a major therapeutic area.
Yet the concept and workings of the mind are not quite explained by physiology and run contrary to the grain of the scientific method as 'mind' is not a physically recognizable or measurable entity.
- Modern scientific belief postulates that all human actions are driven by the desire to fullfil human needs - mostly driven by the 'instinct' for survival, in accordance with the theory of evolution. The evolutionary theory accepted by Modern Science doesn't do well to explain why human beings sometimes act to sacrifice's one's own life for the benefit of others. Logically, sacrifice of one's own life for another/others would be a delusional act.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
A Quick Inventory of Modern Science. Part 2 - The Physics
Continuing my inventory of modern scientific beliefs and boundaries from Part I, here's Part II.
On Physics:
- The sum of Matter and Energy in the universe is a constant (principle of conservation of mass and energy). Matter can be converted to energy and vice versa but the sum of their equivalents is always constant. This essentially gives All Matter and Energy freedom from causality i.e. modern science does not entertain the question "Who created matter or energy?". It is causeless and this causelessness is an established corollary of the conservation principle.
- The 'laws of motion' attributed to Newton are fundamental established fact in an inertial frame of reference. The second law (F = m*a) does not hold at relativistic velocities (approaching light) when the mass of the object may change. The laws of motion explain 'classical' mechanics.
- The 'law of universal gravitation' also attributed to Sir Isaac is established.
- The laws of Quantum Physics which are essentially the laws of quantum mechanics are established at a microscopic (subatomic) level. The only fly in the ointment is that they do not explain gravity.
- The laws of classical and quantum mechanics assumed a non-dynamic time. This assumption makes sense if the velocities of the objects are small relative to light. When things go really fast, time itself slows down (time is dynamic) and the laws of classical and quantum mechanics
lose their foundation.
- The laws of classical and quantum mechanics also don't apply when gravity is so intense that space-time is too warped to have curvature . This is true at the center of many galaxies including our own where black holes have been found.
On Physics:
- The sum of Matter and Energy in the universe is a constant (principle of conservation of mass and energy). Matter can be converted to energy and vice versa but the sum of their equivalents is always constant. This essentially gives All Matter and Energy freedom from causality i.e. modern science does not entertain the question "Who created matter or energy?". It is causeless and this causelessness is an established corollary of the conservation principle.
- The 'laws of motion' attributed to Newton are fundamental established fact in an inertial frame of reference. The second law (F = m*a) does not hold at relativistic velocities (approaching light) when the mass of the object may change. The laws of motion explain 'classical' mechanics.
- The 'law of universal gravitation' also attributed to Sir Isaac is established.
- The laws of Quantum Physics which are essentially the laws of quantum mechanics are established at a microscopic (subatomic) level. The only fly in the ointment is that they do not explain gravity.
- The laws of classical and quantum mechanics assumed a non-dynamic time. This assumption makes sense if the velocities of the objects are small relative to light. When things go really fast, time itself slows down (time is dynamic) and the laws of classical and quantum mechanics
lose their foundation.
- The laws of classical and quantum mechanics also don't apply when gravity is so intense that space-time is too warped to have curvature . This is true at the center of many galaxies including our own where black holes have been found.
A Quick Inventory of Modern Science. Part 1 - The Universe
Before embarking on the journey of logging my evaluations of the Vedas, I am inclined to take stock of some fundamentals of modern science so that I may refer back to them in future log entries.
The underpinnings of modern science are hypothesis (based on gathering observable and measurable evidence), test, observation and analysis to compare observation with hypothesis.
The evidence must be subject to logical/mathematical reasoning.
Based on these principles some of the established beliefs and boundaries of modern science are as follows.
On the Universe and its Creation:
- The Universe as we know it was created with a Big Bang about 13.7 +/- 0.2 billion years ago.
- It is unknown what the state of the universe or matter was there before this creation time.
- The age of the earth is 4.55 billion years (plus or minus about 1%).
- The span of the Universe is increasing, in fact the expansion is accelerating.
- Modern science does not know what the universe is expanding into or what the known universe is contained in.
- The acceleration of the universe actually came as a shock to scientists in 1998 because the believers in the Big Bang theory assumed that the gravitation inherent in the mass of the universe would slow its expansion down. This has led to a postulation that there is a "Dark Energy" (not to be confused with Dark Matter) which is believed to pervade the vacuum of space but the source or logic of its existence cannot be explained. Hence the adjective of "Dark".
- All bets are off today about the prediction of the duration of existence the universe. It was hoped that the lifespan of the universe would be possible to deduce if the universe were slowing in its expansion - so that the deceleration (and subsequent contraction) owed to gravitation could be used to time the duration to return to initial state just before the Big Bang. The accelerating expansion has killed the application of this logic.
- Gravitation is the dominant force at the macro scale of the Universe, so much so that this dominance allows black holes to pull in even light.
- Modern Science does not explain why the Big Bang happened or how ALL matter could exist at 'one point' before the Big Bang.
The underpinnings of modern science are hypothesis (based on gathering observable and measurable evidence), test, observation and analysis to compare observation with hypothesis.
The evidence must be subject to logical/mathematical reasoning.
Based on these principles some of the established beliefs and boundaries of modern science are as follows.
On the Universe and its Creation:
- The Universe as we know it was created with a Big Bang about 13.7 +/- 0.2 billion years ago.
- It is unknown what the state of the universe or matter was there before this creation time.
- The age of the earth is 4.55 billion years (plus or minus about 1%).
- The span of the Universe is increasing, in fact the expansion is accelerating.
- Modern science does not know what the universe is expanding into or what the known universe is contained in.
- The acceleration of the universe actually came as a shock to scientists in 1998 because the believers in the Big Bang theory assumed that the gravitation inherent in the mass of the universe would slow its expansion down. This has led to a postulation that there is a "Dark Energy" (not to be confused with Dark Matter) which is believed to pervade the vacuum of space but the source or logic of its existence cannot be explained. Hence the adjective of "Dark".
- All bets are off today about the prediction of the duration of existence the universe. It was hoped that the lifespan of the universe would be possible to deduce if the universe were slowing in its expansion - so that the deceleration (and subsequent contraction) owed to gravitation could be used to time the duration to return to initial state just before the Big Bang. The accelerating expansion has killed the application of this logic.
- Gravitation is the dominant force at the macro scale of the Universe, so much so that this dominance allows black holes to pull in even light.
- Modern Science does not explain why the Big Bang happened or how ALL matter could exist at 'one point' before the Big Bang.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)