Discussion 19 to Meditation 832
Defending the indefensible
by: JT
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Christian:
I suppose I'm a little at fault here in my brief intial response to your claim that "nothing unknowable can exist." My intention (which I did not spell out) was that you would recognize that some things in the real natural universe (as opposed to a hypothetical supernatural realm) are indeed unknowable. I expected that as a result of that quick example you would either amend your comments prior to publication or withdraw them for further consideration.
But instead, you have chosen to defend the indefensible.
Of course some things are unknowable right now - and some of those things will remain so forever.
Just a few examples -
- What is beyond the boundaries of the observable Universe, for example? Perhaps is just more of the same; perhaps it is, at least in part, quite different. We don't know, and because of the limits of time and space, we will never know.
- Is there life elsewhere in the Universe? We don't know right now, and unless we actually find it (which will provide a definitive answer) we will never know whether the answer is yes or know.
- Exactly what happened at the beginning of the Universe? Yes, there are theories for what happened in the tiniest fractions of a second after it all began, but we don't know what happened at t=0. That's currently unknowable today, and it's quite possible it will always be unknowable.
- What is the origin of life? Right now, we don't know precisely how it began, and unless someone comes up with a chain of events that can be proven to be the only possible way life began, we will be left with a selection of multiple hypotheses. Unknowable today, and possibly unknowable forever.
I suggest that the very nature of the universe from the smallest scale you might consider it to the largest means that it will keep many of its secrets. The very rules you claim make all things knowable actually make some things unknowable.