Science Needs To Change

The most important breakthrough in science Mr. Ivor. C. Bishop You're a scientist, right? Sitting there with another essay, well I have a question for you: why did you study science? Why are you reading this? You're reading my answer. I've always wanted to know. Why are we here? What is time? And why does that blonde channel 5 presenter have a lisp? God damn it! Why? Solutions to global warming don't fulfil my scientific desire, nor a universal cure for disease – not even a teleportation machine (although that would be kinda' cool). What science needs is not a solution, but a different way of answering. The most significant scientific breakthrough in the next 100 years will be the introduction of a new way of thinking and then science can advance. The last 100 years have not taught us about the universe, instead they've challenged our reality. November 1915: Einstein pushed the boundaries of science with simplicity – so elegant – so beautiful. The year of general relativity. But even his genius wasn't enough to comprehend our antirealist existence. “I am convinced that He doesn't play dice” (Einstein) He denied Quantum. 1925: Heisenberg, Schrödinger (and his other unpronounceable Scandinavian compadres) heralded the day of the atom. The century of the atom. “If anybody says he can think about quantum physics without getting giddy, that only shows he has not understood the first thing about them.” (Bohr) But still modern scientists can't take the next step. Because our current way of thinking is limited.

23 dimensions! Piss off Edward Witten! Welcome to the day of the bizarre. Welcome to the century of unexpected truths. The progress of science is threatened by the very rationality that built it in the first place. It is important science builds a different perception, acquires an openness that can only be brought forward by philosophy. Eastern mysticism and science are mirror images of the same object. Bringing the two together will give us a better image of the whole. I have digressed – what do I mean by killing science? The general public have lost tack with 'real science'. We're teaching Newton to kids for crying out loud! A fake reality. This is a testimony to my essay. If scientists can't accept our current reality, what chance do we have of pushing the boundaries of the cosmos? Science needs a new thought process to answer this problem. Physicists are scared of what they might find. Yes! It's frightening. Sometimes I lie there in bed – just thinking - “...what if life has no meaning?” I lay there glassy eyed. Science needs to grab the fear. Question. Probe. And hypothesize. Philosophy has been doing it for years. But philosophy is dead without fact, proof and testing; science is dead without mysticism. Eastern mysticism and physics – considered opposites. But the similarities between the two are astounding: “I had gone through training in theoretical physics and had done several years research. At the same time, I had become interested in Eastern mysticism and had begun to see the parallels to modern physics.” (Dr. Fritjof Capra)

Mysticism doesn't give answers, that is science's job, it shows the way to finding them. Together they will become a greater science. As I write this the construction of CERN is underway. A huge particle accelerator modestly named the LDC – Large Hadron Collider. I've waited since 2000 for its completion. I was 10. When I read about it, it took my breath away. Spanning 3 countries – funded by more countries than you can count on your fingers and toes. Imagine, if you will, miles and miles of darkness – a tunnel. Just your breath in the silence. They'll be smashing atoms down here! Whizzing near light speed – and crashing. Like a natural firework display. Quarks everywhere, and gluons...maybe even strings. Or gravitons? We're on the edge now. String theory! Quantum loop gravity! Non-commutable geometry! This is the century of the bizarre. This is the century of the Grand Unification Theory. Yet with all this excitement I'm still anxious – not because I think we've got it wrong but because people say “this is too outlandish”. This is why science demands a new vantage point, verifying science by logic isn't an option because science already defies logic. This is no longer an essay, this is a plea. Science is heading towards an almighty self destruction. The most important discovery of the next 100 years will be a bolder way of thinking led by philosophy. This will be the hardest test for science. Where the illogical can be true. Where we accept a bizarre reality. Where strange things are true, with this accomplished believe me when I say the GUT is just around the corner. This is the time for revolution. “What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning.” (Heisenberg)