Universe

​We have been into a bit of star gazing. Not as much as some though. There are people that have you beaut telescopes and make discoveries that adds to scientific knowledge. We have never been into it like that. We have several telescopes and my brother has a program that I am all agog at when I look at what it can do.

One of my favour jokes has Lucky Eddie and Hagar looking heavenward and lucky Eddie says something like. “looking at those stars makes you think.’ And Hagar says “yeah they are so small and puny and we are so big.”

In many ways it is understandable though. They would have had a very limited understanding of what they were looking at. We have the benefit of accumulated knowledge. I think it is funny because these days we know nothing could be future from the truth. One star out there is up to 2,100 times larger than our sun, and the earth could fit up to one million times in our sun. We are the small and puny ones but what we face is not small and puny.

I am not inclined to ascribe divinity to inanimate objects. Yet it seems many ancient civilizations did. I marvel and am astounded, but do not imagine that just because I do not understand something, it is magic. Someone has said that many new inventions seem like magic to the user. Because it is not understood. I’m only with a part of what Stephen Hawking said “My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all.” I know that for me a complete understanding of the universe is not going to happen.

Still, I can marvel and learn. Telescopes and books help, but I have found the more I know the more I realize I don’t know. It is great to comprehend, even though my comprehension is limited.
I do not think not knowing is the stupidity Frank Zappa was referring to when he said, “There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life.” Or is it the stupidity Einstein was referring to when he said, “Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.” Ignorance is only stupidity when ignorance is not acknowledged or dealt with when necessary.

In by-gone days though, it seems there was wilful ignorance which to me was stupid. Discoveries were made concerning the universe which did not fit into an accepted way of thinking. The price paid for announcing a discovery could be very high. Any genuine discovery concerning the universe is always liberating rather than threatening.

I am not into cover-ups or pretense. It seems the universe is pretty big. But knowing alone, though it will always be a good start, will never be enough to rectify my human condition.