Science is fascinating. We have heard stories about how some of the greatest minds in history have dedicated their entire lives simply to study science. They could not give up on science even if they wished to (though I doubt they would!) as they enjoyed it too much, sometimes so much that they lose track of time and even reality.
Science as a way of life?
For many, science is not just an ordinary subject, science is a way of life. They strongly believe in scientific principles and trust in logic to analyse the world around them. Hence, they are not easily fazed by choices or commotion as they can clear their minds and analyse them calmly to come up with purely rational comparisons and make the best decision possible.
To understand how such scientific minds work, here’s an excerpt from ‘The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman’.
“I have a friend who’s an artist and has sometimes taken a view which I don’t agree with very well. He’ll hold up a flower and say “look how beautiful it is,” and I’ll agree. Then he says “I as an artist can see how beautiful this is but you as a scientist take this all apart and it becomes a dull thing,” and I think that he’s kind of nutty. First of all, the beauty that he sees is available to other people and to me too, I believe. Although I may not be quite as refined aesthetically as he is… I can appreciate the beauty of a flower. At the same time, I see much more about the flower than he sees. I could imagine the cells in there, the complicated actions inside, which also have a beauty. I mean it’s not just beauty at this dimension, at one centimeter; there’s also beauty at smaller dimensions, the inner structure, also the processes. The fact that the colors in the flower evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it is interesting; it means that insects can see the color. It adds a question: does this aesthetic sense also exist in the lower forms? Why is it aesthetic? All kinds of interesting questions which the science knowledge only adds to the excitement, the mystery, and the awe of a flower.”
Impact of science in our daily lives
I’m sure some of you feel this is superhuman! It really isn’t, though it deviates from the “conventional” norm of life. If you think about it, all of our lives are driven by science. We are all under the spell of science, whether we are conscious about it or not. From the gadgets we use to the homes we live in, our survival, and even our deaths, as they are all mysteriously manipulated by entropy — hypnotising us to keep moving forward in life.
What better proof for this than evolution itself? The world we see around us is the result of billions of years of evolution. To put this into perspective, a billion seconds is equivalent to 31.71 years. That is approximately half of the average life expectancy of humans. From the perspective of the universe, we are just a speck in its dominating presence. Our entire lifetime only makes up for only a negligible fraction (of the order -9) of the 13.8 billion years the known universe has been through.
Significance of life
Does this mean that our lives don’t matter? That, in the cosmic way of life, we are insignificant? Absolutely not! Life is precious. It is a miracle that we share space with galaxies and stars, made of the same cosmic dust. We are made from the same creative energy that made the whole universe. One of my favourite quotes from Rumi captures this to perfection.
“You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.”
To everyone who still fears of not finding your purpose in life,
“I think it’s much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. I have approximate answers and possible beliefs and different degrees of uncertainty about different things, but I am not absolutely sure of anything and there are many things I don’t know anything about, such as whether it means anything to ask why we’re here. I don’t have to know an answer. I don’t feel frightened not knowing things, by being lost in a mysterious universe without any purpose, which is the way it really is as far as I can tell.”
― Richard P. Feynman
Conclusion
If you feel lost in life, you are not alone. The universe works in mysterious ways. We are yet to understand it completely and there will always be situations where logic fails to provide satisfactory answers. But here’s the thing about life. You don’t always need a logical reason for doing everything in life. Sometimes, it’s just about doing things because you want to; because it’s fun, and most importantly because it makes you happy. In our quest to find meaning in life, let us not forget that our existence matters. We all serve a definitive purpose in the universe’s scheme of things. Each of us plays a significant role in the future that we create. It is important that we understand this and not cloud our minds worrying about everything that is not in our control. Instead, let us try to make the most of the precious life given to us and live it to its fullest, a life with no regrets.
