The music was loud and the dancing energetic. The party was in full swing when God arrived. Science, his child, was never late for a meeting. After all, discipline was one of his prime qualities. God smiled for He knew that for this meeting He had to take the initiative to seek his child out. Like an over excited child taking the liberty with its parent, Science had asked to meet the Lord, yet had kept Him waiting. God saw the heady dance and rejoiced in Science dancing in time. Slowly and surely He made Science feel He was ready and waiting to begin His dialogue. But Science was not conscious of the Father’s presence. To Science it was a day to rejoice, accomplishments to celebrate, knowledge redefined. Finally, seeing the Lord calmly watching him dance, Science like a mischievous child held out his hands inviting God to join in his dance. Gently the Lord gathered Science in his arms and changed the music from rock to lullaby. Swaying his child in a sleep like trance, the Lord now declared Science was calm enough to talk.
Said the Lord, “Are you calm enough to share your joy with me or do you need more time to rejoice in your discovery?” Science with a broad smile hugged the Father and replied – “Lord! I have no words to describe what I feel! I have always known I am Thy child. But today I feel closest to Thee!” “Well! What triggered that feeling?” asked God with a smile. The dialogue began – a revelation for all times!
Science: God! I am too excited to speak. Ok! Let me calm myself and start from the beginning… You see this French scientist Marquis De Laplace wanted to find a method by which he could predict the future. He was so sure the world was deterministic (that is, ruled by scientific laws that govern everything including human behaviour). Yet he had a problem. Laplace realised that he couldn’t predict the future if the present was not pre-defined. And so began the search to quantify the present.
God: Hmmm… So did you help him to ‘quantify’ the present?
Science: O Lord! Don’t chide me!! You know how humanity while exploring the properties of atoms, stumbled upon a very strange phenomenon that totally confused them. The revelations of the atom proposed an utterly different reality than the one mankind had believed in till then. Trying to decipher and understand this new phenomenon, the German scientist Werner Heisenberg proposed the uncertainty principle. The backbone of quantum mechanics is this principle of uncertainty that believes that it is impossible to measure the exact position, velocity and speed of a particle at a given time. Instead a quantum state that is a combination of position and velocity is defined.
God: What does that mean to the common man?
Science: Even physical reality as perceived by man and believed by him to fall under definitive laws, is not what it appears. Creation seems to have a mind of its own!! If the particle had reacted in the same fashion to every quantum of light being beamed at it every time, then it would have again fallen into the category of ‘pre-defined’. But because it varies every time disallowing my scientists from defining a specific reaction, it would presumably be endowed with the power of choice. Maulik Parikh, a theoretical physicist, has written – “The central revelation of quantum mechanics is this: the world is ruled by chance. Yes, the microscopic world is random – not just random because of ignorance, but fundamentally random. For example, if you try to pinpoint the location of an electron of some atom, you may find it in one place one moment but in a completely different place the next moment. Far from staying put or even following a nice smooth orbit, the electron jerks around frenetically, haphazardly, like a dancer seen under a stroboscope. That’s because – so says quantum mechanics – the position of the electron is a matter of chance. There’s even a small chance the electron may pop up on the moon. …Unlike the stone dropped from the Quitib Minar, (which always falls downwards, for atomic particles) we don’t get the same result every time.”
God: Hmmm… So the present is indefinable to man eh?? What does that do to his future?
Science: When the present condition of the universe is uncertain, scientists realised that it would be impossible to determine the future. So Laplace’s dream had to be forsaken. The scientific community began to recognise that events cannot be predicted with complete accuracy for there is always a degree of uncertainty. While the macroscopic world of big things appears so predictable, so definite, the microscopic world of atoms is random, based on chance. But they wondered what rules these uncertainties – the uncontrollable statute enacted by You –my Lord or the (human) particle itself, who though enslaved by deterministic laws, is still endowed with the power of choice.
God had a hearty laugh. He hugged his exuberant child Science and replied with a smile.
God: Is that what you are so excited about? Knowing that my creation has the potential to create itself?
Science: (with tears filling into its eyes replied with sobriety) Yes God! It is the closest I have ever felt to Thee!
Silence reigned for a while and God let Science bask in his light for a while.
God: Are the men now ready to understand that life isn’t pre-determined or fated by design? Is humanity ready to accept the responsibility of this power of choice bestowed upon their lives?
Science: Well Lord! Writers like Fritjof Capra have beautifully explained the role of the observer in the making of the Universe. In his marvelous book ‘The Tao of Physics’ he writes – “The crucial feature of atomic physics is that the human observer is not necessary to observe the properties of an object, but is necessary even to define these properties. In atomic physics we cannot talk about these properties of an object as such. They are only meaningful in the context of the object’s interaction with the observer.” In the words of Heisenberg, ‘What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our methods of questioning’ Another beautiful way it has been explained is by John Wheeler who says: “Nothing is more important about the quantum principle than this, that it destroys the concept of the world as ‘sitting out there’, with the observer safely separated from it… Even to observe so minuscule an object as an electron, he must reach in… Moreover the measurement changes the state of the electron. The universe will never afterwards be the same. To describe what has happened, one has to cross out the old word ‘observer’ and put in its place the new word ‘participator’. In some strange sense the universe is a participatory universe.”
God: Good! Now men will understand I don’t stand in judgement from a heaven above – I am but their deepest hidden light.
The smile on Science’s face faded. There was a new seriousness. Science looked into God’s eyes with doubt for the first time. A look akin to fear clouded his clear eyes.
Science: Father! What if man does not realise that ‘participate’ he can but he cannot rule life? What if he fails to treat this as a sign of your benevolent presence and instead thinks himself supremely divine? O Lord in giving them the knowledge of their power to participate in your process of creation, perhaps I have inadvertently given them the feeling that You, my Lord do not actually exist…”
The voice of Science kept rising in fear till the universe reverberated with its power. Atomic insights, the power to destroy life, cloning and genetic engineering, a million insights… The world was spinning and Science was in the middle of this vortex. He searched for his Father but the Lord was no longer in sight. Like a virus that multiplied, perhaps cancerous growth undeterred by the divine, Science felt lost in the labyrinth of its glorious discoveries. Frightened of his own mighty power Science screamed out – “Lord! What if they make me overpower Thee?”
A gentle laughter at first began, that spread like a forest fire to reverberate everywhere – laughter so pure, so powerful, so clear. Science waited in its wake to hear the verdict. The Lord replied – “All your powers, all your insights remain enslaved within time! Find your mother – the originator of creation. She would help you understand how the universe operates and how to master time!”
Written by Gita Krishna Raj | Published in infinithoughts in March 2009
When Science met God… | Segment One: A relative World | Chapter Three: A degree of Uncertainity
