My Imagination and Modern Physics: Just a Coincidence?
Just this morning, I was thinking about the first novels I wrote. These were the five books of the Dave Brewster science fiction series. First, I must note that I am fascinated by astronomy and cosmology. Those subjects have interested me since I was young. I was one of those people who watched Neil Armstrong, the first man in history to set foot on the Moon. I was fourteen at the time. Pretty heady stuff for a kid like me.
In those days, there was no discussion of modern concepts like dark matter and dark energy. Our knowledge of the universe was growing rapidly with each passing year, but it would be decades before those esoteric terms became common. Scientists were working to find the smallest pieces of matter. It took the Large Hadron Collider to finally peer into the guts of subatomic particles and string theory.
Back to my books. The science fiction world I created was peopled by very different sentient species which I came to love. Gas giant planets were populated by massive, winged beings who spent most of their time flying in the winds swirling around those worlds. I created floes of ice (although not water ice) where the creatures would live. Some became space travelers too.
In the second book, Dave and his crew encounter an insect-like race on a planet not unlike our own. They had created a device called a Hive. Inside the Hive, many thousands of these creatures would work together to escape the confines of their planet and search the universe as disembodied spirits. Hives are also used to move massive space ships from one galaxy to another in the blink of an eye (like traveling through a wormhole). In one of the books, a Hive is attacked and most of the creatures die. Later, Dave encounters those spirits traveling through space doing amazing things, like creating stars.
Today, I began to wonder if the spirits of those not living in physical bodies could be dark matter and dark energy, especially the latter.
As far as I am aware, science has not yet determined what either dark “thing” is, although they are sure they exist. It made me smile to think that our souls could be the engine of the universe. It stands to reason that all other creatures throughout the universe would be part of that engine as well.
At some point, our scientists may find other causes for the effects of the dark “stuff” that fit within their preferred mathematical and physical models. I look at it this way:
In the entire history of human life, we have uncovered a lot. In the current model of the universe, that “lot” is 4% of everything that is. The other 96% is dark matter and dark energy which remain concepts, and also break most physical laws.
In the meantime, I will stick with my beliefs. I think it will be a long time before science cracks the code of those concepts, where the universe came from, and why it is here at all.
If you want to know more about the concepts of dark matter and energy, please let me know. I am not a scientist, so I will not resort to jargon. Or, you can check it out online. I do recommend following the James Web Space Telescope on social media. The images they are sharing have blown my mind. All the best.
I agree that we are nowhere near having all the answers nor do I believe we will have them in our lifetime. Isn’t wonderful just to wonder, though? Great post, Karl!
Yvette M Calleiro 🙂
http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com
Karl, what we now know is such a tiny fraction of what is there – maybe a million years from now, humankind will finally understand it all. Maybe. I love learning about and seeing what we are discovering, though, and love those Webb pictures too. The sense of awe we can feel when we look at those or gaze at the night sky is matchless. As for your creations and creatures – what an imagination you have! Thanks for a great post.
Maura, you are so right. Often, we are told that some science is settled. That is never true. There is always more to learn and discover. I too love keeping up with the latest discoveries. It reminds me how little we know, and how much there is to learn. Where I live in Southern California, nights are often cloudy, and even when not, the city lights obscure much of our amazing universe. It is unfortunate, as my telescope sits unused.
How little we know after so many years just confirms how big and mysterious our universe is. These are fun times for true scientists, and their fan base (including me).
Hi Karl! Great post!!!! I too have been wondering about the spiritual realm and whether this might be dark energy. The more I learn, the more I find myself wondering.
Best wishes,
Donna M Atwood
D M Atwood
https://www.dmatwood.com
Whew! I’m not alone. Still, our scientists will keep working to find a physical cause. Good luck to them. They have been doing that for hundreds of years, and our weather forecasts are still wrong most of the time.
Hi, Karl. I went straight to social media and am now following the Webb telescope, thanks to you and your suggestion. What a fascinating place our universe is! Amazing creation. I’m intrigued by your first novels and look forward to reading them.
Blessings!
Patty
Patty, I am glad you checked out the telescope. The images continue to be amazing. Regarding my first book series, I did not have a great editor in those days (long before I joined RRBC). The story lines are still good (but I am the author, so take that with a grain of salt too).
Hi, Karl,
This topic is something that you and I agree upon. And if scientists discover it, they won’t believe it.
Shalom aleichem
Pat, it is so simple for scientists to ignore anything related to faith. To them, it’s all just wishful thinking. In the end, the surprise will be on them. Somehow, having faith only in math and physics is seen as something other than worship.
As a teenager, I loved reading science fiction, but later I switched to mysteries. At Boston University, I took biology for year, thinking to major it. Instead, I transferred to NYU and majored in Finance. Looking back, it seems I had toyed with science but never took it seriously. Now, I’m so far behind that I needed the Big Bang Theory to tell me about the Hadron Collider and string theory.
My path toward science was also short-lived and I ended up with a Finance degree too. I never lost the science bug though. When Steven Hawking began writing books for non-scientific minds, I gobbled them up. I got the string theory bug from another great author, Brian Greene. I once got a book by Roger Penrose, a contemporary of Hawking. It turned out to be his lectures to his post-graduate physics students. My brain fried and I put it back in the bookcase. Big Bang Theory was one of my favorite shows, but not for the science. The interaction among the characters was priceless.
Karl, there is so much to understand about the universe. It is amazing.
That is so true, Shirley. I don’t think science will ever know everything.