By Charlotte K. Jarmy
Scientific new discoveries about our universe lead to more questions than answers. Where does the universe begin and where does it end? We look up at the sky and have to realize we are seeing an infinitesimally small part of it. Is there such a thing as an end or is it infinite? We hear there are billions of galaxies with planets and moons. The sun we see is only one of many stars. Oh, my God, can there be other places light years away that living entities populate? Can they see and judge us as idiots?
The evolution versus creation controversy is alive again, so the powerful TV and news media tell us. Where does each of us absorb our beliefs? My mother wouldn’t recognize the word evolution, and my father, despite his scientific background, rarely looked beyond the evils of the recent past. Does education help mold what we think? My anthropology class at Hunter College implanted in me a deep acceptance of the incredibly slow movement of matter as it changed into what we are today, human beings.
Religion, in all its variations, plays a major role in the decisions of many who follow the strict interpretation of the Bible that tells us the mighty hand of the Lord created all that we call Earth and its inhabitants. Art, sculpture and music provide beauty and insight for acceptance of religious faith. I am a product of both beliefs, but my mind holds to the evidence and logic of evolution, to the scientific ability to discover ways to measure the physical aspects of our world and that of the cosmos.
It would be far easier to accept the idea of divine creation. The numbers are not gigantic, and the concept of the original human couple, Adam and Eve, makes sense to many who take that concept as fact. There are multiple “truths” rolling around the world. I am amazed that the staunch believers, positive that their truth is the only real truth, can inhabit the same space. Yet we do - and its name is Earth, a beautiful planet as seen by the astronauts who look down with awe.
George Will, well-spoken writer and sports lover, wrote about Bill Bryson’s book, “A Short History of Nearly Everything.” Will’s quotations from the book made me struggle with the reality that Bryson offers. Both express the opinion that “the more they (young people) understand the vast and mysterious indeterminacy of things, the more they will be suited to participate in writing the next chapter” of the human story.
Science rushes us so fast these days that major interpretations of basic physics come from conflicting analyses by some of the world’s finest minds. Our children and our grandchildren will learn that the appearance of human beings is constantly being revised backwards in time. We are truly tiny in any measurement of where we fit into the scientific studies of life on Earth. An enormous sense of insecurity develops about the future where whole continents will move, mountains will grow and oceans disappear, says Bill Bryson.
Alone on a night when the stars shine coldly rather than romantically, I feel an emptiness of spirit and a lonely sense of my puny importance. It takes courage to accept some scientists’ prediction that our universe will expand and will continue to expand. Does that mean that there could be another Big Bang?
Because we are all part of the previous Big Bang, in a sense we share the trillions of atoms from the past. It’s amusing to wonder if I share more of Shakespeare and Milton’s DNA than that of Plato or Mozart. Howard suggested maybe more of my atoms come from Cleopatra. What on earth does he mean?
It’s easy to be silly when you realize we are here for a nanosecond. As far as I’m concerned, Father’s Day is about my dad, the warm sun my young mind revolved about. That may not be scientific, but it is love.
