The God Particle and The End of the World
CERN and the Large Hadron Rap
As Monty Python would say..."And now for something completely different..."
I like Physics - as much as I can understand it, which isn't a lot. In earlier years I spent a lot of time poking around in popular physics books by Martin Gardner, George Gamow and - yes - even Isaac Asimov. Later I bumbled through stuff by Stephen Hawking, Roger Penrose, Leopold Infeld and even Einstein, who tried to make the mysteries of field theory, relativity, gravity and quantum electrodynamics intelligible to high-school drop outs like me.
I prefer physics to the biological sciences. But they both necessarily enter the field of conjecture (which they would call "hypothesis") at some point. There's nothing wrong with positing a theory and then experimenting to see if it accurately describes reality. I'm all for it.
But I am also a young earth creationist, so I get a bit conflicted admiring science and decrying what sometimes passes for the scientific method - but often actually turns out to be a desperate desire to prove a set of presuppositions. Physics is much less prone to this than some areas of the biological sciences, but it is not immune. When Big Bang Theory looks for the "God Particle" (the Higgs Boson) but doesn't figure God Himself in to the mix then I part company with the science (and scientists) that I love. I've written about this sort of thing elsewhere, so I won't repeat myself here.
We all know by now, of course, that the large hadron collider at CERN is about to be started up and that, when it does, it will destabilize the entire space-time continuum, causing reality to fold back in on itself and bringing an end to all life here on earth [/smile]. Until then, I can still appreciate the science and the very clever and novel means of presenting it all in what follows. And, without further ado and in the sure and certain hope that the world will indeed end some day, I offer this absolutely stunning rap video from Kate McAlpine. Normally I hate rap music, but this is a hoot - and don't miss the Stephen Hawking voice impression at the beginning.
I hope you enjoy it - I did...
I like Physics - as much as I can understand it, which isn't a lot. In earlier years I spent a lot of time poking around in popular physics books by Martin Gardner, George Gamow and - yes - even Isaac Asimov. Later I bumbled through stuff by Stephen Hawking, Roger Penrose, Leopold Infeld and even Einstein, who tried to make the mysteries of field theory, relativity, gravity and quantum electrodynamics intelligible to high-school drop outs like me.
I prefer physics to the biological sciences. But they both necessarily enter the field of conjecture (which they would call "hypothesis") at some point. There's nothing wrong with positing a theory and then experimenting to see if it accurately describes reality. I'm all for it.
But I am also a young earth creationist, so I get a bit conflicted admiring science and decrying what sometimes passes for the scientific method - but often actually turns out to be a desperate desire to prove a set of presuppositions. Physics is much less prone to this than some areas of the biological sciences, but it is not immune. When Big Bang Theory looks for the "God Particle" (the Higgs Boson) but doesn't figure God Himself in to the mix then I part company with the science (and scientists) that I love. I've written about this sort of thing elsewhere, so I won't repeat myself here.
We all know by now, of course, that the large hadron collider at CERN is about to be started up and that, when it does, it will destabilize the entire space-time continuum, causing reality to fold back in on itself and bringing an end to all life here on earth [/smile]. Until then, I can still appreciate the science and the very clever and novel means of presenting it all in what follows. And, without further ado and in the sure and certain hope that the world will indeed end some day, I offer this absolutely stunning rap video from Kate McAlpine. Normally I hate rap music, but this is a hoot - and don't miss the Stephen Hawking voice impression at the beginning.
I hope you enjoy it - I did...
posted by agonizomai at 12:01 am
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2 Comments:
Tony,
This is great. The video is hilarious!
The few things I have learned about chemistry and physics make for great illustrations of spiritual truths. In fact, some of my ideas about paradox are related to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. If I have it correct, that one says we can determine either the velocity or the position of a particle at any given time, BUT NOT BOTH. In the same way, we can describe God in the Trinity as Three Persons or as One Essence, but not both at the same time. The illustrations and logical descriptions always break down before they get to the point of an air tight explanation. Just as Heisenberg reveals a limitation in our ability to understand something that actually exists and has an explanation, God has given us paradoxes to illustrate our intellectual limitations in theology. We're chasing down particles particles far more powerful and amazing than we realize.
Yet, as you have said many times, effective use of Scripture and a mind guided by the Holy Spirit can bring us enough certainty to make sense. We're not emerging into some reinvented nonsense that only serves to project the false humility of unbelief. We're acknowledging principles that have underpinned the universe and the Church from the very beginning, things that God Himself invented and are not to be tampered with. To reinvent them would be for our glory, not His.
Derek,
Yes, you have caught the spirit of the whole thing with some great observations.
I touch on the Trinity a bit later in my devotional notes on 1Corinthians, but nothing deep.
The interesting thing to me about the collapse of the quantum state is that the collapse is a result of the observer's action. By trying to see what is beyond our purview we make what we are trying to see impervious to our view.
It's nicely ironic. It reminds me of how God states that there are secret things and then makes our own disobedient desire to know them anyway (despite being forbidden) the very means by which we can never know them.
But, these are only analogies. I certainly do not advocate that science ceases to ask questions - only that it it is consistent and accepts the answers regardless of the implications.
Blessings,
Tony
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