Why How and not Why

                As a human species we tend to have an explosive curiosity for the world around us. I feel it is what makes us unique, and probably is what makes humans the dominant species. I was in the store the other day and I overheard someone else’s child making the inquiring “why” repeatedly. I have to admit I often ask the question why in my own life, it’s what drove me to study science. However, it’s the obsession with the “why” that also causes us to sometimes think irrationally. There are absolute truths in the universe, but what makes something true? Often times we have our minds set so much on the “why” that we miss the entire “what” and “how”. I feel the one absolute truth (no matter what you believe) is that we have no idea what absolute truth and knowledge is.

                I have always studied science to get answers to why things are the way they are. It wasn’t until my last year of undergraduate that I realized that science doesn’t have the answer why (I know that took a long time, but I always thought I just needed to learn more). That caused a deep sense of depression, heartache, and confusion inside of me. The truth is science doesn’t teach “why”, instead scientists answer the question “how”. The laws of physics are defined not because Newton said “that’s why gravity pulls on things”, but because he observed a pattern of things falling due to some imaginary force. What is gravity, why does it exist? Those are two questions scientists don’t know, and only one of them they are trying to answer.

                I feel the problem lies in the false perception we are given as children. Often times people talk about something we call “intuition”. What is intuition? Google says it is “the ability to understand something immediately, without the need to conscious reasoning”.  So when we say science is intuitive, it is because science is just how the universe works. Of course it’s intuitive, it’s because we see it every day of our lives. Few people stop to think the reason we aren’t floating is because of gravity, they just intuitively know that gravity is working and always has. What bothers me is that we give a false impression that science and intuition go together. THIS IS WRONG. Why is quantum mechanics so difficult for people to comprehend? It is because you can’t use intuition unless you are an experimental physicist or physical chemist.

                I finally started piecing the puzzle together after my first year of graduate school. Nothing “makes sense” in physics, it isn’t meant to. Physics answers the question of how things work, and can be used to predict future events based on initial conditions. Quantum physics is the same thing as classical physics experimentation wise. Basically we do a bunch of experiments, and get certain results. The only difference between classical physics and quantum physics: the results. On a smaller scale we get new results, thus we are forced into creating new models for our system. However this does not mean that Newton was wrong, or that Einstein Dirac or Heisenberg was wrong. All this means is that quantum mechanics is a model that works on a smaller scale than classical mechanics. As my graduate quantum mechanics professor put it so elegantly “an electron does what an electron does, and it doesn’t give a damn what you think.” In other words things happen no matter the human reasoning behind it.

                This is why I like to talk about how humans don’t know what absolute truths are out there. Science is a continually evolving field because our experiments get better, and we can build off of old models. We are continually learning “new” “truths”, and sometimes throwing out old “truths”. Our experiments can show how things work, but if we knew the “why” then science would be dead. The why is a by all end all, and really an impossible question to answer. “Why” leads to circular logic and will never be truly answered. So why the obsession with “why” is a question I don’t know the answer to. After all it’s a “why” question. It could be just a genetic trait built into humans, perhaps it’s an evolutionary step to make us the critical thinking tool builders that we are today. It obviously has some benefit since it’s built into us at birth. I do feel, however, it can be the cause of our logical downfall if we are too OCD about it.

                Perhaps this is the cause of religion in the world. If you are religious please don’t be offended by my language here. I fully admit I do not have the answers, and perhaps there is a God or gods or flying spaghetti monster. With that logic, however, I also will tell you that you have no proof of a God or gods or flying spaghetti monster. This is exactly the topic that I would like to discuss.

                Often people try to “prove” religion or philosophy. To be blunt that is probably one of the most ignorant things you can do. I would say proving religion is more ignorant that just believing it based on words (at least that kind of belief has some merit). The reason I say this is that science and religion are two different things (not belief systems, but THINGS). Some atheists say they “believe science more than religion” which is just as ignorant as trying to “prove religion”. Science is not a belief system but it is a method in which we find answers to the “how” in the universe. We evoke the scientific method, perform experiments and then peer review our results and try to replicate them. In other words science is the method used to obtain the answer “how” while ignoring the why. Religion on the other hand answers a completely different question. Religion is the philosophy of “why” without explaining the how. For example, those who take the bible literally will tell you God created the earth in 6 days. That answers the question “why do we exist” but it does not answer how he created the earth or the life on it. Science however does not care about “why do we exist” but it merely states that the earth was formed through the force of gravity, and over millions of years through the process of evolution life evolved into what it is today. To recap SCIENCE TELLS US HOW WITHOUT THE WHYS, and RELIGION TELLS US WHY WITHOUT THE HOWS. This is why many scientists tend to be atheists, not because science is a belief system but because as scientists they really don’t care about the whys (especially if the answer to how is just merely “because God”).

                I hope this can shed some light on our distorted world view. I think this also explains the difference between science and religion/philosophy. Scientists (at least experimentalists) are not philosophers. We find patterns, and express those patterns in mathematical theories. Philosophers answer questions that often times have no application in life, and they have no proof to their answers. Philosophy is the art of using words to reason things. Science is the method of reasoning  through experiments and patterns. So how do to we deal with this constant nuisance of needing to know things that we can’t know? May I suggest it starts with our children and explaining to them the mysteries of the universe in a blatant but straight forward manner? Here are my top 3 ways to cope with curiosity:

1.       Accept the fact you don’t know and can’t know “why”. Teach your children that there are limits to human knowledge. When they ask why, explain the how. If you don’t know the how it is fun to explore and learn together. Thankfully the internet has the answers to most of the “how” questions. Then lovingly help them understand that no one knows why. It is something they probably won’t get until they are much older, but it will be easier to cope with the horrible reality of life if they are exposed to it at a young age. If they know that scientific laws and theories just exist and we don’t know why it will make quantum mechanics much easier to understand. If you are religious, accept the fact that your religion does not have the answers to “how”. You just need to “take it on faith”, that’s really the nature of religion. If that bothers you than maybe religion just isn’t for you. If you’re ok with that, then keep doing what you’re doing if it makes you happy and gives you comfort in life.

2.       Accept the fact that you are just a spec of dust in the universe. The other day I was looking out at the stars and I thought about how weird we are as a human species. We make things like light bulbs and cars and highway signs out of just raw materials in the earth. Then it made me realize that one human couldn’t do any of what human kind has done by him/herself. We are who we are because we work collectively. However if you are just a small person in the human race, imagine how insignificant you are in the universe. This is humbling/depressing/liberating all at once. If we accept that we are but a small pixel in a large painting it gives us a new perspective on life and existence. It can then perhaps help us to understand the beauty of the universe.

3.       Accept the fact that you have no control over anything/anyone but yourself. I say this not because it’s absolutely true. You of course can kick up dust, influence people (for good or for bad), crash your car into a house, etc… But what you think/believe will not change the absolute truths of nature or the universe. We often think we can will people or things into doing what we want. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have “the force” and move objects with our minds or use “jedi mind tricks”. Sure that would be great for us, but it’s just a fantasy. We need to accept that and move on with our lives. The less we try to control things/people and the more we try to work WITH things/people we will be a lot more productive. Just because you think/believe/”know” it’s true doesn’t make it true. Science can prove patterns however and can predict future events. So use science to predict the proper path to take in life. Don’t force your “why” answers on other people, but try to understand “how” you can understand them better.

I feel all of these suggestions build upon each other, and can make for coping with life a little easier. Life is hard; it’s even harder when you don’t know “why”. These suggestions may not be the best for you. I don’t claim to know how to best help you cope with the lack of answers in the world. Maybe you don’t need to cope at all and are doing just fine. But as a scientist these are the patterns I observe in my life that make it a bit easier. May we all be just a little more curious, and find the answers we can find without going crazy over the answers we can’t find.