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Trying to Understand the Big Picture
Been doing some deep thinking lately on the nature of the universe. Trying to answer some of the big questions:
- Why are we here?
- What is our purpose?
- Why do bad things happen?
I've been down the religious path before. While that has answered some questions for me, I've walked away feeling unsatisfied. For the last few years, I've been exploring the questions from other angles -- scientific, spiritual, and philosophical.
I'm not going to claim to have all the answers. This is an ongoing process of learning and growing for me (as it is for everyone). But I did have a little revelation yesterday while waiting in line at the local amusement park (Elitch Gardens in Denver).
Background
Some of the material I've read recently has been a catalyst for my inspiration. I recently finished reknown inventor and futurist Raymond Kurzweil's "The Age of Spiritual Machines" and will be starting his newer book "The Singularity is Near" shortly. I'm currently reading "The New Physics and Cosmology -- Dialogs with the Dalai Lama." In this book, quantum physicists, cosmologists, and the Dalai Lama (representing the Buddhist philosophy) compare notes on the nature of the universe. Also on my future reading list "The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality" by the Dalai Lama.
Anyway, back to the topic...
Order vs. Chaos
It's well understood that the universe as a whole is increasingly entropic -- that is, it is becoming more disordered over time. The universe started as a perfectly uniform structure -- a singularity, or something very small that was perfectly ordered and in complete harmony with itself. Over time (and especially near the beginning) differentiation occured, and things became more random, disordered, and chaotic.
That's still happening today. We are an island of order in a universe of increasing disorder. Our evolution, in fact, is progressing in the very opposite direction. How can this happen? Well, the answer seems to be that when looking at the universe as a whole, our development is insignificant. The sum total of the universe is still headed in the other direction.
I look at this, however, and I do not see our insignificance. As a matter of fact, I see just the opposite. The fact that we can exist in such a universe is miraculous. Every little thing we do from day to day to make the world a better place pushes the universe towards a more beautiful and harmonious state. This effect seems insignificant in such a large universe, but it is not. The increasing chaos in the universe at large is slowing down. It is on the tail end of an exponentially decreasing state of order. Our evolution, however, and I surmise the evolution of all intelligence in the universe, is INCREASING at an exponential rate. Thus, it is my conclusion that at some point, order must once again overtake chaos.
So, what does this mean about our day-to-day lives, and our purpose here?
Purpose
As I already mentioned, the natural state of the universe is for things to fall apart -- to become more disordered -- more entropic. The very fact that we are here, and evolving in the opposite direction is a sign of something wonderful. You may see that as God, an intelligent designer, a universal consciousness, or whatever. Creation did not happen. It IS happening. We are an intimate part of it. It is our role, and the role of all intelligence in the universe to complete creation -- to move the universe towards harmony. I can feel this deep inside of me when I create something of my own, or when I do something to help somebody else. I feel a little more connected to humanity, and the rest of the universe.
When Bad Things Happen
We don't always get things right the first try, however. Lots of bad things happen. I don't blame this on anyone, or anything. That's just the natural order (or disorder in this case) of the universe at large. I find it more interesting that we are increasingly able to overcome hunger, pain, suffering, death, injustice, and inequality.
But here's the real kicker. We are not just fighting against disorder and chaos. We are USING IT in our process of creation! Chaos is not a cruel punishment by a malevolent God. Our evolution has depended and continues to depend on chaos in order to move forward. The evolution of life on this planet came about because all sorts of chaotic things happened. Some of them actually worked. These traits were carried forward, and further built upon. The asteroid impact that killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was horribly chaotic -- maybe we could even call it tragic. Life suffered and died. Yet, as a result, life sprung anew, and progressed in even more wonderous directions. We would not be here were it not for that event.
When something bad happens today, as a whole, we don't move backwards. These things inspire us. We become resolved to make things better. We create new technology to help those who are suffering and in need. We figure out better and more effecient ways to feed the hungry, to heal the sick, to give shelter to the homeless, to give people hope when it seems there is none.
Someday, we will solve these challenges, and move on to even bigger challenges that we can not even conceive of at this point. And in the end, the light will triumph over the darkness.
Other Kurzweil inspired articles:
jbravo
14 Comments
If the universe is becoming increasingly chaotic and disorganized, why are we fighting so hard to stop it?
Now, I don't know how things got this way. It was probably inherent in the universe at the time of the big bang -- or, it could be reverse-causality (the fact that we are conscious resolved ambiguities in the past universe to create conditions that lead to our consciousness). That's going to be part of my next topic of discussion. :-)
If the universe is constantly moving towards chaos then no amount of order we introduce is going to matter a damn.
But I believe that we've had Chaos since the big bang, and actually the universe is 'trying' to get back to a state of complete Order - ie; NOTHING.
Why did the Big Bang happen then, if the universe was previously nothing and really wants to be nothing? Why not stay with the kind of nothing it had before that silly explosion f*cked everything up? *L*
Of course you do not need any more dimensions for this view.
Anyway, if we can't stop the freight train, and the universe does go "bang" again, at least we can be comforted knowing that there is rebirth after death.
The notion of the universe going forever cold is quite depressing...
However, with such views prevailing, I have to ask the question: Other than the possibility of there being something permanant and greater than ourselves that we are a part of, what prevents any of us from being murderous thugs? Why be nice to anyone at all? I suppose the answer to that is that everything we do is fundamentally selfish, regardless of what it is -- even if it appears altruistic. What keeps any scientist motivated to discover and to better the human condition if nothing ultimately matters anyway?
Because we're all busy right now. Life is always busy, and never ready to give up the ghost. We must all make a living.
Granted, that's the nature of our capitalistic rich man-poor man thing, but even if we had arranged nature to provide us with all our wants and needs, there would be new horizons to discover, new art to be created, new forms of self-expression to be enjoyed.
Life is fun, and we are lucky to be alive.
I understand how these stars then come to the ends of their lives, exploding and creating heavier elements as they do so. And that these elements will eventually clump together to create the galaxies, stars, planets, moons, rivers, mountains, cats, you, me - that we see today.
I understand the physics even if I couldn't read the equations. We can mathematically and in a lab, recreate the science necessary to build this universe. It doesn't need a creator, although the big bang itself needs a cause.
There are questions left to be answered but they are at the other end of the universe. Modern scientists seem quite happy to accept that beyond the furthest part of the universe there is Nothing - not an empty space, but the total non exsitence of anything, and that the universe creates the space it occupies as it expands. I do not necessarily subscribe to this.
Some think that if you go far enough in one direction, you'll end up where you started as space is curved - like those computer games where you go off one edge of the screen and reappear on the other. Some even tried looking far enough into space in an attempt to see the backs of their own heads (this is true, despite being jocularly presented). My jury is out on those.
As for the fate of matter:
As all of the energy that left the big bang slowly turns into matter, there will eventually come a time when matter is all there is. The universe will be a uniform temperature and the dead universe will consist of great lumps of 'stuff'. It will be very dense stuff. Gravity will ensure that eventually most of this matter will be in one place. This will undoubtably be an incredibly sized black hole.
As matter is squeezed, there must come a point where the atoms are crushed to the point of breaking down (giving off energy) and that the constituent parts of the atom must also be squeezed to the point of destruction. Matter itself cannot exist at that point and therefore the cycle is completed - what began as pure energy, returns to that state. Whether the destination of that energy is ultimately a new big bang for us, or a big bang for a new universe dimensionally elsewhere is an interesting question because it suggests that this universe could be the inside of a black hole elsewhere.
Your question JB is a very pertinent one. If there is no God (and at no time does any of this actually disprove a God), then why morality? I like to think I am a moral person. I do not hit people. I do not steal from them. I tell the truth when I can and I don't kill anything. I have no real reason to be. If there is no karma, no yang for the yin, no God to judge me, then why be moral at all? The cold, scientific answer is that without morality, no creature could evolve a civilisation like ours. Or any other. You need morals to live and work together, so apes with a moral concience would be more likely to evolve than those without.
That it is possible to live moral-free lives is evidenced by the bulging prisons and infamouse historicals. But thankfully, most people I've found, are all right. I do like to think that I have conciously made the decision to be moral but I have to suspect it's the way I'm made.
For some reason, many of us believe that there is much more. We are not satisfied that what has been seen is all there is to see. Is there also an evolutionary reason why this is so?
Myself -- I'm trying to keep an open mind. If nothing else, I'm absolutely certain that there is far more to understand about this universe than we already know.
Hey you know AdGuy always gets the last word! ;)