When we are young

[tacit]

When we are young, we imagine dragons and elves, magic and wizards, heroes swooping down on flying carpets to save the day. As we grow, we long to see these things. We long to catch a glimpse of a dragon soaring over the mountains at sunset, to see with our own eyes the magic of the elves

Comments

[polydad]

I have a slightly different calibration here.

I see science as a learning technology. It does tell me that dragons don't currently exist, but the next step in the process is "Okay, so how can I make one?" Which might still possibly develop an answer.

See you this evening,

Joel

[emanix]

This. Absolutely this.

I grew up on a mixed diet of science fiction and fantasy, and the quote that sticks with me year after year is from one of Clive Barker's books, Weaveworld: "What can be imagined need never be lost."

As far as I'm concerned, science is what makes magic possible, and imagination is what gives science wings. If we're ever going to have dragons, fairies and unicorns it will be because science enabled us to create them, and I love living with that possibility.

[red_girl_42]

science is what makes magic possible, and imagination is what gives science wings.

That is lovely.

[gracedoyen]

Since I've started following your blog, I have been absolutely fascinated by your world view and what you have to say. I can't always relate to your experiences, for example, I think I may have met one or two people in my life who either disregarded science and embraced fantasy with a blind eye to any other possibility, or who did the opposite - believing in embracing science and disregarding fantasy. Honestly, I can't wrap my brain around either concept

[red_girl_42]

I, too, get frustrated at the people who say that science removes magic and beauty and mystery from the world. Things that are beautiful and awe-inspiring are no less so when we explain how and why they occur. Many times they become even more so, when we fully understand the complexity involved.

To those who claim that science is just another religion, I try to explain that science isn't a set of beliefs. It's merely a tool, a method, for helping us understand the world. The scientific method doesn't tell us what to believe (and plenty of scientists do believe in god), it just gives us a reliable method for recording, testing, sharing and repeating our observations. It's no more a belief system than mathematics or writing. They are just tools.

[james_the_evil1]

I actually thought about getting in to genetic engineering so I could BUILD dragons. :-)

[comfy_chair]

Surely I can't be the only one who's occasionally a scientist by day and a (parody of) an elf by night?