Limits

Friday 1/26/18 6:56 AM

I am currently reading God and the Multiverse, by Victor Stenger. I have always enjoyed reading about astronomy and cosmology, somehow drawn to the unimaginable immensity of the universe while trying to reconcile what seems to be my own insignificance in comparison. I am currently reading about how quantum mechanics influenced the formation of galaxies and how the breaking of symmetries caused exponential inflation in the earliest moments of our universe’s existence. The Planck time and Planck length scales at which these events transpired are equally unimaginable. I think I understand some of the ideas being put forth by the author but trying to wrap my head around the details makes my head swim.

I believe God created the universe but, when I read about quantum mechanics, things that previously seemed obvious become clouded and murky. Today I read Psalm 139:11-12, “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” I also read Isaiah 55:8-9, “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’” When humanity engages in scientific endeavors to understand the minute complexity and vast immensity of our universe we do so with our human senses and from our human point of view. This limits our ability to perceive that which lies outside the realm of our senses or to understand that which lies outside our point of view and philosophical perspective.

Perhaps those gray areas I have when trying to understand quantum mechanics, or the idea of multiverses, lie outside humanity’s ability to perceive and comprehend and will always be shrouded in mystery. It is hard to admit but maybe the thoughts of God are above my human ability to perceive and perhaps the things I see as being shrouded in mystery and darkness are plainly obvious to God, as Isaiah and David suggest. In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy exploring the limits of my understanding and marvel at and revel in the wonderful, complex, immense universe in which I live.