"Why?" is a tricky question

Yesterday Jim, a long-time friend, sent me a link to a video of physicist Richard Feynman responding to a question about why two magnets repel/attract each other.

Simple question. But the answer isn't.

At least, not if we consider "why?" in the depth that this word deserves. Feynman, a brilliant guy, talks about how difficult it is to isolate anything from what really is an virtually endless chain of interrelationships that extend through much vaster reaches of space and time than we normally envison when we ask "why?"

Science understands this. Religions don't. They like to offer up ridiculously simplistic answers to why? questions such as "It's God's will," "Karma," "The Lord works in mysterious ways."

Regarding the last notion, my reply is: So does the natural world.

Yet if we study reality with wide open eyes that aren't restricted by religious dogma, it's possible to make some headway in understanding what is going on inside and outside our craniums.

Electromagnetism is comprehended quite well by science, as Feynman explains. However, physicists don't know how electromagnetism relates to gravity, even though it seems pretty clear that in the earliest instants of the big bang all of the forces of nature were unified.

So mystery reigns when we ask some "why?" questions, while other queries about the nature of reality have been persuasively answered by science.

Does this reduce the glory, majesty, awesomeness, and mystery of the universe in any fashion? No. In fact, scientific facts add to the marvelous meaning that the natural world holds for us.

Jim also shared with me a shorter version of the wonderful "Science Saved My Soul" video that I blogged about last year. Have a look. I found it just as inspiring the second time around.

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Adults understand this, children don't