The Intellect of Man: Quantum Flux

As the current theory stands, Quantum Mechanics, the smallest particles in our universe are unpredictable. We cannot say exactly where they will be at any give point, but we can guess the most likely place where they will be. These predictions have been experimentally tested and are extremely accurate. Einstein, when speaking what he thought about Quantum Physics said: "God does not play dice with the Universe."₁ Many years after his death, and several very critical experiments later, Stephen Hawking simply stated: "Einstein was confused, not the quantum theory."₂

Here we see many many people making huge leaps and bounds in understanding how our universe works, but few, if any, truly understand why. We have a theory that is very accurate that was derived using experimental data. The discovery of this theory happened a bit backwards. Scientists didn't come up with an equation and a theory and then do experiments to prove that theory, they did experiments and came up with an equation and a theory to explain the results.

Many scientists have approached science from a religious stand point. Einstein, for instance, approached everything as a discovery into one more way that God made the universe work, as shown by the viewpoint quoted above. This trend has seemed to change over time. Now scientists try to use science to prove why God doesn't exist, the same way they try to use evolution to discredit the Creation. Many people in society also have this view point. It's as if gaining more knowledge as to how things work is suddenly proof or evidence that no one designed the intricate fabric upon which our Universe runs.

Allow me to delve further and show you some of the intricacies we fail to notice in everyday life. There are books written on these topics (as I'm reading one right now), so my brief paragraphs will fail to encapsulate much of the complexity, but I'll try to explain the basics.

General Relativity

This theory, in its most simply form, simply explains how large objects interact with space and time. The entire theory revolves around the constancy of the speed of light. Fact: no matter how fast you go, you will never "catch up" to a beam of light. You can throw a baseball forward and by running quickly in the direction it was thrown keep up with it. This same concept is not true for light. No matter how fast you are moving, when you measure the speed of light it will always be ~670 million miles per hour.

To further expand on this. If you are moving 500 million miles per hour, point a flashlight in front of you and turn it on, and measure the speed it travels forward from your moving platform, it will still be moving at ~670 million miles per hour, not the ~170 million miles per hour one might suspect. Someone standing on the ground can also measure the speed of that light beam. Can you guess their result? ~670 million miles per hour, not ~1.17 billion miles per hour. It is exactly the same for both people observing the light. What a conundrum of a paradox.

To understand fully what is going on, we need to introduce a new concept spacetime. We want to meet a friend somewhere, so we tell them where we want to meet them (the location in space) and when we want to meet them (the location in time). We normally view the location and the time as two separate entities, but they are one. You exist at a current point in space and a point in time: spacetime.

Now, imagine you are walking at a constant speed from one end of a giant patio to the other end. If you walk straight across the patio, the trip to the other side will take less time than if you were to walk across at an angle. We were always walking at the same speed (distance covered in a given amount of time), but it took longer when we walked at an angle. Now let me redefine the terms a little. The patio is spacetime and, according to relativity, we always travel through space time at a constant speed: that of light (our walking speed). The journey from side A to side B of the patio signifies our experience in spacetime. Our deviation from a straight line represents our speed through 3D space. The total time to cross the patio represents just that: time.₃

Einstein made theory states, as mentioned above, that we always journey through spacetime at a constant rate: the speed of light. If we increase the speed at which we are traveling through 3D space (walking at an angle) our speed through time, our 4th dimension, slows (the total time it takes to cross the patio). Why does this happen? Because of mass.

Einstein stated that as an object moves faster its mass increases. He also showed that mass warps the fabric of space time (much the same way a marble place on a stretched bed sheet makes a dimple in the sheet). This warping of space time causes time to pass more slowly. So as we move faster and faster through space, we warp the fabric of spacetime, and cause time to slow.

Quantum Mechanics

Scientists discovered that light particles (photons) had the properties of a wave. It was formerly thought that they were particles. After making this discovery, scientists also found that electrons and other minuscule molecules had these same properties. They found that energy transferred from molecule to molecule relied, not on the density of the molecule that were interacting one with another but based on the wavelength of the particle. Why? Because of energy. A shorter wavelength has more energy than longer wavelength.

When scientists tried to pin point these particles so that they could be observed, they ran into a problem: the particles weren't always where the scientists thought they should be. The theory was then developed to explain the probability that a particle will be at any given point in time. The theory essentially states that the particles act in an almost random pattern and we can only guess where they are going to be.

I don't really understand it very well, and I did a lot of summarizing in the first paragraphs, so I'm just going to leave it at that basic explanation for explaining how the smallest particles in our Universe act.

The Issue

These two theories clash with each other. You can use them alone, but if you try to combine them (for black holes, for instance), the theories crumple apart. Einstein spent his last years in life searching for a unified theory, but was unsuccessful. Scientists are in the process of developing what is being called "String Theory". It is a theory that is meant to be able to be used both for explaining why small particles move the way they do, but still be able to handle the effects that large masses have upon the fabric of spacetime. I know even less about this theory than I do quantum mechanics, so I will simply leave it here as what scientists are trying to use to find the universal equation.

Guess What

But, guess what? We've had the answer since December of 1832. It tells us why and how. The only problem is that it doesn't give us equations.

"...This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made. As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made; As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made; And the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand. And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings; Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space-- The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things."₄

Why and how: Because God said so, that's why!

As you know from reading my evolution and creation posts, I hate that answer. I don't consider it a solution. What the references we see above explain, though, is that there is a law that governs all things. There is a unified law of physics that is the basis upon which everything is founded. We haven't found it yet, but it is out there.

Here's what I wonder, though. If these scientists who are trying to prove that God doesn't exist by figuring out how everything works (because that somehow proves it, just because we know everything), were willing to step back and factor God into the equation of everything if they would actually be able to find the solution to the problems of the Universe.

Also, never forget, the answer to the life, the universe, and everything is 42. Google even says so: http://www.google.com/search?q=the+answer+to+life,+the+universe,+and+everything


Footnotes:

1. The Elegant Universe. Brian Greene. pp 107 back

2. The Elegant Universe. Brian Greene. pp 108 back

3. Ok, so this explanation was a little obscure, but it's the best I can do in such a little confined space. I recommend reading on it in more detail. A good explanation is in The Elegant Universe on pages 34-41. back

4. Doctrine & Covenants. Section 88, verse 7-13. back

The Intellect of Man: Coincidence or Divine Intervention

I think I'm going to change the general focus of these more to what I wanted to talk about in the first place. Not so much evolution, but the intellect and ability for one to comprehend and/or understand and/or accept the existence of God.

We have a classic example where someone will say something along the lines of "Someone was watching out for me" or "My guardian angle must've been close by". Whereas others will say "Hey, that was really lucky" and "Nah, just coincidence."

Let me name a few events that can be applied either way.

1. Your tire blows out on the freeway, you spin a few times, run into the median, spin again, and stop. You car is facing the direction of the flow of traffic, it is off the side of the road enough that it is not blocking any lanes, it is just far enough away from the barrier that you have enough room to comfortably move around and put on your spare. No damage was done to the axles, you are not injured, your tires have enough tread left after spinning to get to a decent shop and get them replaced. The first shop you find is having a tire sale, and you get 1/2 off. Coincidence or Divine Intervention?

2. It is snowy and you are driving, your car slides out on a turn while you are going about 60 mph on the busy freeway. You slide all the way across 4 lanes of traffic without hitting anyone, then you flip around and slide all the way back through those 4 lanes of traffic *again* without hitting anyone. You stop facing towards traffic, but off the side of the road, without hitting anything. Coincidence or Divine Intervention.

3. You have a long road trip to make, but end up delaying it for one day just because you don't feel like going yet. You go out to lunch with a friend the day you are planning on leaving and notice that the tread is starting to separate on one of your tires. Had you driven the night before, chances are the tire would've blown. Coincidence of Divine Interfention?

4. You lose a contact while you are at school and cannot find it. You go into a bathroom, say a prayer for help in locating the lost contact, walk back to where you think you lost the contact, look down, and you're staring right at the contact. Coincidence or Divine Intervention?

5. A large number of people fast and pray for an end to the drought. Within a week, there are very heavy snow storms and massive rainfall. Coincidence or Divine Intervention?

6. A Prophet of God dies. The day before his funeral is cold and snowy and miserable. The day of his funeral is sunny and warm and wonderful. The day after his funeral is, again, cold and snowy and miserable. Coincidence or Divine Intervention?

7. You have an urge to do something you don't want to do. You fight that urge, but feel you are fighting a loosing battle. You read the scriptures, say a prayer, and the urge is gone. Coincidence or Divine Intervention?

8. You have a test for which you have been studying, but feel you just don't know the material properly. You continually get mediocre grades on the practice study exams. You say a prayer before going to take the real test. Everything makes perfect sense while you are taking the exam, and you achieve good marks. Coincidence or Divine Intervention?

9. You say a prayer in the morning asking God to let you be a tool for good. After an uneventful day, you feel the urge to call one of your friends. You call them, and it turns out that they are in desperate need of help in one way or another, and had just finished saying a prayer to ask for that help some how. You are easily able to help. Coincidence or Divine Intervention?

10. You are going down a rocky dirty road on your mountain bike at about 25 miles per hour. You lose your front tire and have a terrible over-the-handlebars wreck. You are knocked unconscious for a few seconds, but your helmet keeps any major damage from happening, and you slide about 40 feet down the road. Your only injuries are a few rocks lodged in your face and arms and dirty-style road rash. No broken bones, no sprained joints, no pulled muscles, bike still in working order after the front tire is re-attached. Coincidence or Divine Intervention?

I know a lot of people who would be able to look at these and be able to see Divine Intervention. I also know a lot of people who can always find some reason why it is just chance, luck, or coincidence. They simply refuse to acknowlege that God could exist because of lack of "evidence".

Here is the problem with their reasoning. There is evidence *everywhere* that God exists. People, however, refuse to acknowlege it as evidence because the idea of God existing is too far fetched for them. Their intellect cannot and will not support that conclusion.

They can look straight at the subtle proof God is giving them that He exists and find some reason why that isn't really "proof" or that it is just their imagination. There is no convincing them, because they are able to rationalize God out of the equation.

This reasoning, however, is a two edged sword. Any argument applied to someone to say "you just can't accept this as proof", can and will be turned around. Someone who credits God for every little random coincidence must be crazy. They are unwilling to acknowlege their own skill in preventing a severe accident, unwilling to accept scientific proof that is contrary to their beliefs, etc, etc.

Eventually, though, all truth will be known and the two edged sword will strike a death blow in one direction; Coincidence or Divine Intervention?