There is another way in which sci/religion helps confront the problem of human aggression. The new faith is rooted in curiosity and examination. It can grab control of the old human conquering spirit—a relic of our survival instinct—and redirect it from physical acquisition to intellectual exploration. Not long ago, adventurers set out to conquer ostensibly savage lands and convert the native populations. Today we reach out with our minds to touch the edge of the universe and the beginning of time. People read about cosmology in much the way that their predecessors read about exotic travels. The big bang serves the same role today that Tahiti or the Congo or Antarctica did a couple centuries ago: It opens the imagination to the exotic magnitude of the world. It feeds the restless mind and spirit with a feeling of adventure, an adventure of a scale and scope unlike anything we've encountered before. Science has always had many of these virtues. Since Einstein's prophecy elevated science to sci/religion and gave it dominion over the universe, however, it has drastically expanded its credibility.
I can even imagine the sci/religious faith expanding to provide a new theory of consciousness that extends this sense of cosmic connection. Cognitive scientists often think of consciousness as an emergent phenomenon, meaning that the brain's processing ability grew greater and greater until it reached a critical threshold at which true consciousness (however we might define it) emerged. The more time I spend with cosmologists, the more I am drawn to a different interpretation. What if consciousness is not something that emerged, but something that exists on a continuum? We all recognize that chimpanzees have less consciousness than humans, cats less than chimps, squirrels less than cats, and so on. To me, it makes philosophical sense that consciousness evolves incrementally out of response to stimulus, all the way down to the simplest bacteria, making it an aspect of life as fundamental as metabolism. But the origin of life, too, had to be in some ways an incremental event. Continuing backward, I think of consciousness rooted in the simplest events and responses, the interactions of subatomic particles and fields. This is a philosophical position, not a testable theory so far as I can tell. But it would give sci/religion something resembling a model of the soul—a sense that our individual consciousness is linked to a universal, eternal responsiveness.
As sci/religion grows ever more generous in scope, old-time religion is struggling to find its place in the new order. But really, this process of readjustment has been going on for centuries. In the fifth century C.E., Saint Augustine already recognized the need to disentangle the biblical account of creation from physical theories of the world, urging that the evidence of the senses should take precedence whenever possible. The Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides argued that reason should guide our study of the world unless it seemed to contradict the Bible's most fundamental doctrines. Spinoza established the whole framework of cosmic religion in the seventeenth century by identifying God as an unchanging entity that cannot be separated from natural law. In the past century, the Catholic Church has steadily retreated from both cosmology and evolutionary biology. Even biblical literalists who think the world is 6,000 years old feel compelled to use the arguments and evidence of science in a vain attempt to protect the old faith against the onslaught of the new.
All the same, many people remain convinced that science is amoral or even immoral. Large parts of the world are fiercely devoted to old-time religions. As Primack warned, the Temple of Einstein might produce the most glorious picture of the universe ever conceived by humans, and yet fail to find its congregation. “How well our cosmology is interpreted in a language meaningful to ordinary people will determine how well its elemental stories are understood, which may in turn affect how positive the consequences for society turn out to be. There is a moral responsibility involved in tampering with the underpinnings of reality,” he writes. That responsibility includes embracing the spiritual.
Einstein foresaw that traditional religions will have to abandon the idea of a personal God and articulate a new moral philosophy. “After religious teachers accomplish the refining process indicated they will surely recognize with joy that true religion has been ennobled and made more profound by scientific knowledge,” he wrote. But the success of sci/religion depends even more on its practitioners jettisoning their reticence and speaking openly about the deep mystical satisfaction their work delivers. The material success of science—glitzy consumer electronics, sophisticated new medical treatments—will not make the case for them.
The 1930 manifesto that Einstein wrote for The New York Times rings truer than ever today: “Those whose acquaintance with scientific research is derived chiefly from its practical results easily develop a completely false notion of the mentality of the men who, surrounded by a skeptical world, have shown the way to kindred spirits scattered wide through the world and the centuries. Only one who has devoted his life to similar ends can have a vivid realization of what has inspired these men and given them the strength to remain true to their purpose in spite of countless failures. It is cosmic religious feeling that gives a man such strength. A contemporary has said, not unjustly, that in this materialistic age of ours the serious scientific workers are the only profoundly religious people.” It is time for the sci/religious faithful to step up to the pulpit and be heard.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I suppose all books are a long journey, but this is my first one; so for me the path has been full of surprise twists, delays, and cathartic moments of clarity. My editor, Stephen Morrow, has done a great job of kicking me through the slow stretches and urging me to trust inspiration whenever it strikes. My coworkers at Discover and, before that, at Scientific American helped foster many of the themes in this book through innumerable free-form conversations. I am particularly grateful for John Morgan's good-humored arguments, which forced me to think clearly about why he was wrong or even why he might be right. So many friends have lent a sympathetic ear that it would be tedious to thank them all properly. Laurie Shapiro deserves special mention for keeping me focused on the joy of writing. And I owe Michael Abrams for engaging me in a series of sharp debates that, I hope, have steered me away from my more misguided ideas.
Many of the thoughts expressed on these pages have been percolating in my head since childhood. I owe my parents a tremendous debt for their endless intellectual support and encouragement; my mother did a remarkable job of encouraging my youthful interest in astronomy and urging me to keep reading books and attempting to master concepts that seemed beyond my grasp. Over the years my brothers Kevin and Jonathan have helped keep my sense of wonder active with their lively curiosity and keen outsiders' interest in science.
I am amazed at how many researchers have freely given their time and encouragement to help me in my research. Brian Schmidt, Bob Kirshner, Jim Peebles, Andrei Linde, Alan Guth, Mike Turner, Adam Riess, Robert Jastrow, Neil Turok, Don Nicholson, and above all Saul Perlmutter have been invaluable resources, always available and eager to help out.
Finally, I could not have completed this project without the loyal support of my wife, Lisa Gifford, who married me just as I began to spend my evenings and weekends locked away in front of a computer, lost in a writer's daze. She has been a steady source of comfort and inspiration. Her vivacious spirit lies everywhere between the words of this book.
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INDEX
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