Astronomy 1 Essay

Philosophical and Religious Aspects of Our Understanding of the

Universe
Humans have an intelligence that is our blessing and our curse. It drives us
to constantly question. This constant need for answers was a necessity when our
species was young. Finding answers kept our species alive for the 200,000 years
weve been on Earth. Is this plant edible? Will that animal hurt me? Does it taste
good? Is this a safe place to sleep? The answers to these questions were
empirically verifiable. Our ancestors found comfort in these answers and in this, our
intellect was a blessing.
However, when our young species found the answers that provided for their
physical and social needs, their curiosity turned outward. Why did the sky change
colors before it rained? What are those small lights in the night sky? Why did
plants grow, change colors, then die just to be reborn again a few months later?
What was that milky orb in the night sky? Why did it change shapes? What is that
bright light in the sky? Our ancestors had no answers for these questions and so
they were afraid. We needed to have answers for these questions; needed that
comfort, and in this, our intellect was a curse.
In the millennia before classical physics, we, as a species, found our answers
in religion. All unanswerable questions were then collectively answered because,
our god made it so. And so we found our comfort.
Unfortunately, because the concept of religion has been rooted in our species
history since the beginning, it is a hard concept to let go of. Religion has always
been a barrier to the advancement of science. Astronomy in particular, has many
clashes with religion. This is because all religions have the one unified concept that
the world, the sun and the universe was created by a Higher Power. Copernicus was
burned at the stake because he had proven that the Earth revolved around the sun.
A concept that went against the theocratic belief that the Earth was the center of
the universe. With each new scientific astronomical discovery, the grasp of religion
weakens on the globe as a whole.
The sun isnt there because God put it there. Its there because a dust cloud
in space, called a nebula, began flowing together due to the force of gravity. This
dust was gravitationally drawn into a center. The more dust, the bigger the gravity.
The bigger the gravity the greater the central compression until the pressure
caused the dusts temperature to rise so high that it began to change at an atomic
level. Carbon dust became hydrogen gas, all the while giving off a full spectrum of
light frequencies.
Religion and philosophy have no place in the fact based world of science. Im
not saying that religious men have not made great scientific discoveries, because
they have. Im only saying that the human element in scientific research and
results can be swayed by religious belief.

What Should Thomasin Major In?

I feel that Thomasin has a responsibility to our species to major in Astronomy.

She has personal knowledge that could greatly lend itself to the field of Astronomy.
Her insights could one day find an answer to some other unanswerable questions.
What is dark energy really? What is dark matter? Two unknown forces that
comprise 70% and 26%of our entire universe, respectively.
I would like to close with a quote from one of my new heroes, Neil Degrasse
Tyson. I know this is over a page long, but I didnt want his quote to be used in my
essay in case it seemed like filler.
We are driven to the humble mind blowing conclusion that 96% of all that is
the universe is not anything that we even remotely understand. And that all of our
laws of physics- everything that we know, love, interact with and understand or
even can predict anything about the future- that falls into the 4% that remains.
[sic]
The Inexplicable Universe with Neil DeGrasse Tyson Episode 5: Inexplicable Space;
The Great Courses 2013