Proven by Science
Sorry I keep doing these, but this was a good one!!
Very important question indeed! The answer completely depends on the question's context. Does everything in the observable universe, somehow, make scientific sense? It might. Can we, as a species, explain and understand everything about the universe? I don't think that will ever be possible.
Then there's the unobservable universe. Things like God. I don't think God will ever have a scienfic explanation. I don't think we can ever prove that a God may or may not exist. I don't think supernatural experiences like ghosts or angels will ever be something we can prove. I don't think we can ever prove that something doesn't exist somewhere in the universe. Though our universe is finite, it is constantly changing. When we look at the sky, we are looking billions of years into the past, because light takes time to travel. Of course, when we look at the sky, we do see it in the present-- present time on Earth. I think in order to explain a lot of things about the universe we need to have a decent understanding of how time really works.
The universe, as we know it, is ever expanding. Since the Big Bang, that is all it has been doing. It has been getting larger and colder. Scientists have several theories of what the future of the universe might look like: either it will continue to expand, stop expanding, or at some point it will begin to contract. This is a perfect example of what many scientific issues look like today; we have options and theories, but no clear cut answer.
With the more widespread acceptance of quantum physics, we are learning that things are less solid than we once thought. That objects can exist in multiple places at once, in multiple forms. That while matter comes in many forms, the rudimentary particles that makes up every substance of the universe are exactly the same. I think as we get closer to understanding the infinitely small, the closer we also get to understanding the finitely large.
I think the most important thing to remember is that we, as organisms, are living machines. Machines effect their environment, even by simply observing them. This means that we can never know if when that tree fell and nobody was there to hear it, if it really did make a sound. Of course common sense tells us that it did fall and that it did make a sound, but there always is the question; if no one is present to observe an event, can we even conceivably state that it even existed? Until fairly recently in astronomical history, we had never seen the "back" of the moon. Before it was shrouded in mystery. Can we say the back of the moon, before we had seen it, existed? Common sense says that it did. But in all truth, there is no way to prove that.
Science thrives on proof. And yet we cannot prove some of the most basic concepts of our known universe. I think we have a long way to go before we can proclaim we understand the basic function of existence.
Very important question indeed! The answer completely depends on the question's context. Does everything in the observable universe, somehow, make scientific sense? It might. Can we, as a species, explain and understand everything about the universe? I don't think that will ever be possible.
Then there's the unobservable universe. Things like God. I don't think God will ever have a scienfic explanation. I don't think we can ever prove that a God may or may not exist. I don't think supernatural experiences like ghosts or angels will ever be something we can prove. I don't think we can ever prove that something doesn't exist somewhere in the universe. Though our universe is finite, it is constantly changing. When we look at the sky, we are looking billions of years into the past, because light takes time to travel. Of course, when we look at the sky, we do see it in the present-- present time on Earth. I think in order to explain a lot of things about the universe we need to have a decent understanding of how time really works.
The universe, as we know it, is ever expanding. Since the Big Bang, that is all it has been doing. It has been getting larger and colder. Scientists have several theories of what the future of the universe might look like: either it will continue to expand, stop expanding, or at some point it will begin to contract. This is a perfect example of what many scientific issues look like today; we have options and theories, but no clear cut answer.
With the more widespread acceptance of quantum physics, we are learning that things are less solid than we once thought. That objects can exist in multiple places at once, in multiple forms. That while matter comes in many forms, the rudimentary particles that makes up every substance of the universe are exactly the same. I think as we get closer to understanding the infinitely small, the closer we also get to understanding the finitely large.
I think the most important thing to remember is that we, as organisms, are living machines. Machines effect their environment, even by simply observing them. This means that we can never know if when that tree fell and nobody was there to hear it, if it really did make a sound. Of course common sense tells us that it did fall and that it did make a sound, but there always is the question; if no one is present to observe an event, can we even conceivably state that it even existed? Until fairly recently in astronomical history, we had never seen the "back" of the moon. Before it was shrouded in mystery. Can we say the back of the moon, before we had seen it, existed? Common sense says that it did. But in all truth, there is no way to prove that.
Science thrives on proof. And yet we cannot prove some of the most basic concepts of our known universe. I think we have a long way to go before we can proclaim we understand the basic function of existence.