What it all means...
I know I'm often critical of religion, especially those faiths which require adherents to turn off their brains, so this whole topic might sound a bit odd coming from me. Sadly, I don't have any non-theistic terms available to talk about it, so... be advised that none of what follows should be construed to indicate a belief in the supernatural of any kind.
I was talking about what the study of physics means to me and the idea that popped into my mind was that it is a devotional activity. Some people meditate, or do drugs, or sing to feel connected with the universe. For me, it's about exploration and understanding. If you want to see what moves me, fills me with wonder and awe both at the marvels that are there to be found and the reach of human thought to seek and comprehend, go check http://apod.nasa.gov and spend some time looking at the archives.
I have memories of this... long nights staring at the stars, or squinting through a little telescope to see the craters on the moon, the banded clouds of Jupiter or the distant clouds left by a dying star. I remember looking down into the Grand Canyon and seeing back through time, the ages that passed before anyone could walk up and see it. I played with magnets, melted metals, burnt dried leaves with a lens, watched as spiders built webs, tadpoles turned to frogs. Among all these wonders, and they are wonders, I never saw nor looked for the watchmaker's hand. Within the limits of my mind, all of nature just was... but in these things I felt a connection to the world, the sense of resonance with something beyond just myself that I assume others interpret as a connection to the divine.
The universe and every thing inside it evolves, in the most literal use of the term, changing over time. Today is not the same as yesterday and tomorrow will be different from today. You don't look like your parents, nor your children. Mountains now soar where once there were oceans and wind and water wear mountains back into the sea. Worlds are born and destroyed and reborn over and over. We now know of more planets around other stars than are around our own! When I was young, the mere existence of extra-solar planets was pure conjecture and now we know of dozens. Each discovery makes the world we inhabit richer.
And so this comes down to values. Expanding human knowledge is, in the net, a Good Thing. As a part of humanity, adding to my own is likewise a Good Thing. I aspire one day to be a teacher... and that's good too.
I was talking about what the study of physics means to me and the idea that popped into my mind was that it is a devotional activity. Some people meditate, or do drugs, or sing to feel connected with the universe. For me, it's about exploration and understanding. If you want to see what moves me, fills me with wonder and awe both at the marvels that are there to be found and the reach of human thought to seek and comprehend, go check http://apod.nasa.gov and spend some time looking at the archives.
I have memories of this... long nights staring at the stars, or squinting through a little telescope to see the craters on the moon, the banded clouds of Jupiter or the distant clouds left by a dying star. I remember looking down into the Grand Canyon and seeing back through time, the ages that passed before anyone could walk up and see it. I played with magnets, melted metals, burnt dried leaves with a lens, watched as spiders built webs, tadpoles turned to frogs. Among all these wonders, and they are wonders, I never saw nor looked for the watchmaker's hand. Within the limits of my mind, all of nature just was... but in these things I felt a connection to the world, the sense of resonance with something beyond just myself that I assume others interpret as a connection to the divine.
The universe and every thing inside it evolves, in the most literal use of the term, changing over time. Today is not the same as yesterday and tomorrow will be different from today. You don't look like your parents, nor your children. Mountains now soar where once there were oceans and wind and water wear mountains back into the sea. Worlds are born and destroyed and reborn over and over. We now know of more planets around other stars than are around our own! When I was young, the mere existence of extra-solar planets was pure conjecture and now we know of dozens. Each discovery makes the world we inhabit richer.
And so this comes down to values. Expanding human knowledge is, in the net, a Good Thing. As a part of humanity, adding to my own is likewise a Good Thing. I aspire one day to be a teacher... and that's good too.