Science

I'm in a biology program. I thought it would be a good way to strengthen my faith and help me to gain a better understanding of the world around me. I'm not sure if it has accomplished either goal. Let me share a pile of thoughts on science with you.

Science is strange. It starts with the assumption that what we can see and verify physically is all that there is. This isn't done with any malicious intent. It is done to encourage the deep exploration of many topics. This creates an environment where you don't really discuss God or philosophy in a context that doesn't involve trying to explain why they occurred evolutionarily or how they function in our brains.

Biology seems to have an explanation for everything. Some of the hardest moments in my university career have occurred when one of my professors generates an explanation for something we see in nature which relates back to natural selection. They take things as beautiful and complex as human emotion and distill it down to a way to increase mating potential and survival. It's interesting to talk about but sometimes it's just incredibly depressing.

I think science is valuable, but I don't know that there's much there to hang your soul on. Some people would feel differently about this but if you suck all the mystery and purpose out of life, it makes everything seem pretty pointless. "If I am here as a consequence of the universe, I can do whatever I want". I don't buy it though. Science as a supporting document to the protocol of my life is good but science makes a very unstable central pillar. As Tommy Tiernan would say, it's not enough to hang your coat on, never mind your soul.

I prefer the mathematicians approach to the world. A mathematician looks at something and seeks to discover patterns and order. Upon finding these things, he says to himself "How amazing". I much prefer this approach.

I'm getting out of science after this trip and exploring other things. I think it's for the best.