All About Mormons

Many of my readers may not realize that I’m a scientist. Though I love science, I believe that society places too much confidence in scientists. In this essay, I’ll explore the limits of science and why I have no trouble reconciling my belief in God with my love for scientific inquiry.

Many foolishly believe that everything of value in the universe can be assessed through science, meaning that everything of value in the universe is observable, measureable, and reproducible. Ironically, this premise is not scientifically testable. Have we any reason to think that some of the universe is inaccessible to us through scientific inquiry? Is everything important in the universe really observable, measurable, and reproducible? We face two possible barriers to a more complete understanding of the universe: physiological and cerebral.

Physiological Barriers

There is a fish, Astyanax mexicanus, which has lived for so long in the dark caves of Mexico that it has lost the ability to see; in fact, this fish has no eyes. No matter how intelligent such a fish became, it would likely never know the stars. In this case, the barrier to greater knowledge is not necessarily a lack of intelligence. Even a genius fish would probably be oblivious. Rather, much of the universe is inaccessible to the fish’s mind because the fish is not physiologically capable of detecting it.

There’s good reason to think that humans may have similar physiological barriers. For example, consider the neutrino. Neutrinos are subatomic particles that rarely interact with normal matter. 50 trillion solar electron neutrinos pass through each of our human bodies every second without reacting with any of our “physical” matter. Many trillions of neutrinos pass effortlessly through the whole mass of planet earth every second as well. To detect neutrinos, physicists have built a vast underground detection tank called the Super-Kamiokande containing 50,000 tons of ultra-pure water, in hopes that once in a blue moon one of the neutrinos passing through the earth will perchance react with one of the water molecules in the tank. If neutrinos were only slightly less reactive, humans could not detect them.

May physicists believe there are particles that are even less reactive, particles called “weakly interacting massive particles,” or “WIMPs.” These particles have never been detected; it may be that humans are not capable of directly confirming their existence. And yet, despite the physiological barriers to detection, neutrinos, WIMPs, and particles like them may be very important. They may be components of the “dark matter” that prevents our galaxy from flying apart.

Cerebral Barriers

Aside from physiological barriers, there are also likely cerebral barriers that prevent us from obtaining a complete understanding of the universe. Our minds may simply not be advanced enough to comprehend much of the universe around us. For example, there is not a single species on the planet capable of understanding general relativity, except for humans. The barrier for these species is not physiological; apes can sense gravity just as well as humans can. It’s just that apes do not have minds advanced enough to comprehend relativity, despite the fact that the principles of relativity have a critical impact on their lives. Without gravity, after all, the earth would not exist. Given that every non-human species on earth has a demonstratable cerebral barrier that prevents it from fully comprehending the universe, what good reason exists to suppose that we humans are somehow free of similar cerebral barriers?

Science, especially quantum physics, is beginning to demonstrate human cerebral limitations. The universe simply does not operate in ways that we humans can intuitively understand. Consider these examples:

1. Though our minds perceive all matter as being composed of particles, in fact all matter is both a particle and a wave. It’s not that all matter particles undulate in wave-like patterns, like water molecules moved by the ocean waves travelling through them. It’s that these particles are actually also themselves waves.
2. When a single subatomic particle like an electron is shot in the direction of two equidistant openings, it passes through both simultaneously. It’s not that the particle splits in two, and each half goes through one of the two openings. It’s that the single particle in its entirety goes through both openings simultaneously. 
3. An electron orbiting an atomic nucleus can travel from one side of the atom to the other without ever passing through an intermediate point. It’s as if I could somehow walk from one end of a hallway to the other without ever passing through the middle of the hall.  
4. When I throw a ball, my mind believes that I can know the precise position and speed of the ball at every point along its trajectory. The universe disagrees, however. As I try to measure the speed more accurately, I know less about the ball’s position. As I measure the position more accurately, I know less about the speed. It’s not simply that my instruments for measuring speed and position aren’t accurate enough. It’s that the universe itself will not allow me to know the exact position and speed of any particle. This phenomenon is totally foreign to what my brain expects, but so it is just the same.

The only reason we can even talk about these phenomena is because we can describe them mathematically despite our inability to understand them intuitively. But there is no reason to suppose that we are capable of understanding the entire universe even in mathematical terms. The correct mathematics needed to fully understand the universe may be too complex for our minds to comprehend, or it may be that much of what happens in the universe is not governed by mathematical laws.

Conclusion

Clearly, there is plenty of room for a scientist to believe in God. It is almost certain, given our physiological and cerebral limitations, that we are not capable of assessing all that is important in the universe through the scientific method alone. Even things that are “important” may be beyond our ability to detect and describe, just as blind fish can’t see the stars and apes can’t grasp general relativity. Science has and will continue to bring us many great benefits, but we must understand its limitations. We may only be aware of the tiniest sliver of all that exists and occurs in the universe; there’s certainly room for God in our largely unknown cosmos.