Orbis non sufficit
Monday, October 22, 2007
Meaning
"The strange thing about studying physics and maths is that although it is hard, it doesn't allow you to escape. Were I to stop studying these fields and pursue something easier and more financially beneficial I would find it hard not to feel that I had abandoned the only truly meaningful reason for mankind to exist."
-Myself, on a survey for some dude trying to get a 'Masters of Education' degree :p
"The strange thing about studying physics and maths is that although it is hard, it doesn't allow you to escape. Were I to stop studying these fields and pursue something easier and more financially beneficial I would find it hard not to feel that I had abandoned the only truly meaningful reason for mankind to exist."
-Myself, on a survey for some dude trying to get a 'Masters of Education' degree :p
Comments:
Hmm... an interesting question is posed there.
I'd have to say that physics and maths is actually useless unless we humans are around to utilise it.
Its almost a given that at some point we will either wipe ourselves out or be wiped out by something and at that point the sum total of all our knowledge, all the time, money and effort that went into maths, physics, all other areas of science and indeed other areas such as art, will be nothing.
Anything we leave behind will either be eaten by time, or if it is found, will probably be meaningless to those who found it. Its a bit like when we find Mayan & Ancient Egyptian ruins and what not. We look upon their old ways and beliefs with curiosity, but none of it is taken on board - instead we explain it through our own means.
So, should some alien race ever find the ruins of our civilization, they'll look at a page of maths and say "aww, isnt that cute?", or perhaps more "wow, isn't that incredible", and then they'll say something like "they were so primitive" or "they actually thought that worked like that".
And even if they did find something that adds to their bank of knowledge, then what? They probably would have found it out eventually anyway, and if not well then maybe it will enrich their lives for a little while before they too wipe themselves out or get wiped out.
But this only raises further questions("Oh no my house! It burned down!"). Questions like: is anything anyone does important? How do you define important?
Have all the lives that have ever been lived been lived in vein?
Will all the lives that will ever be lived be lived in vein?
If we define important as "for the better-ment of future generations" then I would definitely agree with you. However, if we define it as "for the better-ment of the current generations" then i would have to say the work of a diplomat may be more important, even that of a president or prime minister of a reasonably powerful country. Maybe people like the members of Medicines Sans Frontiers who work in the most violent parts of the world literally putting people back together on operating tables or vaccinating people against terrible diseases.
Yes, i know science brought us the vaccine and even some of the techniques used in surgery, but it isn't possible to say that the science component is the most important part of it. The people putting the knowledge into practice are just as important; without one side the other is completely useless.
So if humans exist simply to discover, were i myself to chose something, i'd have to say philosophy is the most important, yet also the most useless. Philosophy is the pursuit of pure knowledge, not just knowledge that fits into the current socially accepted paradigm.
It was only a few hundred years ago that people were put to death for using science to challenge anything the church believed at the time.
While that seems primitive now, imagine how we'll look back at ourselves.
Science is just another religion. One that worships logic, procedure and a measurable result. What will be next? Will everything thats been done so far be worth nothing?
But i diverge.
I think what my point is is that theres nothing anyone can do that will be important once our race is gone.
Post a Comment
I'd have to say that physics and maths is actually useless unless we humans are around to utilise it.
Its almost a given that at some point we will either wipe ourselves out or be wiped out by something and at that point the sum total of all our knowledge, all the time, money and effort that went into maths, physics, all other areas of science and indeed other areas such as art, will be nothing.
Anything we leave behind will either be eaten by time, or if it is found, will probably be meaningless to those who found it. Its a bit like when we find Mayan & Ancient Egyptian ruins and what not. We look upon their old ways and beliefs with curiosity, but none of it is taken on board - instead we explain it through our own means.
So, should some alien race ever find the ruins of our civilization, they'll look at a page of maths and say "aww, isnt that cute?", or perhaps more "wow, isn't that incredible", and then they'll say something like "they were so primitive" or "they actually thought that worked like that".
And even if they did find something that adds to their bank of knowledge, then what? They probably would have found it out eventually anyway, and if not well then maybe it will enrich their lives for a little while before they too wipe themselves out or get wiped out.
But this only raises further questions("Oh no my house! It burned down!"). Questions like: is anything anyone does important? How do you define important?
Have all the lives that have ever been lived been lived in vein?
Will all the lives that will ever be lived be lived in vein?
If we define important as "for the better-ment of future generations" then I would definitely agree with you. However, if we define it as "for the better-ment of the current generations" then i would have to say the work of a diplomat may be more important, even that of a president or prime minister of a reasonably powerful country. Maybe people like the members of Medicines Sans Frontiers who work in the most violent parts of the world literally putting people back together on operating tables or vaccinating people against terrible diseases.
Yes, i know science brought us the vaccine and even some of the techniques used in surgery, but it isn't possible to say that the science component is the most important part of it. The people putting the knowledge into practice are just as important; without one side the other is completely useless.
So if humans exist simply to discover, were i myself to chose something, i'd have to say philosophy is the most important, yet also the most useless. Philosophy is the pursuit of pure knowledge, not just knowledge that fits into the current socially accepted paradigm.
It was only a few hundred years ago that people were put to death for using science to challenge anything the church believed at the time.
While that seems primitive now, imagine how we'll look back at ourselves.
Science is just another religion. One that worships logic, procedure and a measurable result. What will be next? Will everything thats been done so far be worth nothing?
But i diverge.
I think what my point is is that theres nothing anyone can do that will be important once our race is gone.
