Letter From The Publisher- March 2016

Einstein was right, and it only took 100 years for us to prove it! An important part of his General Theory of Relativity is that gravitational waves are created by the collision of two black holes and that we can detect these waves if we have the right instrumentation. In this case, the right instrumentation is the Gravitational Wave Observatory, which has been monitoring space for the special signal it has now heard and recorded for posterity and for all of us to hear.

 

The genius that Einstein presented to our world is not just in his ideas and theories but the mathematical formulations by which science would prove or disprove his theories. The mathematical proof gives a rich substance to Einstein’s theories and a flawless trail of mathematical bread crumbs to follow, if we stray from the path. Einstein set forth theories for all time and future generations of physicists and mathematicians to ponder.

 

God is a mystery. It is a mystery to most humans and well worth solving. I have friends who are hard core fundamentalists, some who are questioning while believing, those who are engaged in an internal debate on the nature and existence of God, and those whose questions will probably continue until they breathe their final breath, which will resolve the issue once and for all.

 

The belief, or lack thereof, spills over into all aspects of our daily lives. It is not always apparent. Actually, it is seldom visible but reminiscent to me of the “invisible hand” that once guided economic theory in America.

 

And then there are the atheists, the non-believers whose belief system is devoid of a god, a higher power, an intelligence that exists in the universe. The followers of the writer and philosopher Ayn Rand, often referred to as Objectivists, promulgate a philosophy that is godless and proclaims human reason as the only source of knowledge. If you can’t prove it logically, it doesn’t exist. Therefore, with no proof, there is no God. There are a number of assumptions underlying this philosophy, the main one is: the human mind can comprehend the mind of God if he existed. That is a very large, and to my mind, an impossible assumption to accept. I believe that no matter how advanced we may think we are, we are still a long way from being able to comprehend the nature of God. 

 

Why do people become atheists? And why should we care if they do? Atheists frequently have no role model, or their role model is an atheist. Those without a role model when young frequently search one out. Sometimes they find atheism instead of God. In our society, that is an okay path to follow because of our belief in freedom of religion or freedom of no religion at all. 

 

I am addressing atheism, if briefly, because it has come up so frequently in discussions lately, much precipitated by the current political process of electing a president and now approving a Supreme Court Justice. 

 

It will surprise a few people that there are levels of belief and understanding within atheism, as it is not a monolithic, single-minded belief system. Some atheists do believe in a God, if only 8% of the self -identified group, according to the highly respected and reliable Pew Institute. That may come as a surprise, especially to atheists. More on this in future columns.

 

And, in passing, for all fans of global warming, 2015 was the hottest year on record and January was the eighth consecutive month of highest recorded temperatures.

 

Until next time,

Walter