The absurdity of the situation was, to me, striking.
There we were, learning about the incredible intricacy of the physics of human speech, the equally incredible intricacy of the physics of human hearing, and even more incredibly: the perfect synchronization between these two systems. Each of these systems is based on a perfect synthesis of the laws of physics, the anatomy of the speech and hearing tracts, our neurological and cognitive abilities, and a myriad of other factors which come together just so to enable us to talk and hear. The fact that we can communicate with one another and understand each other (hopefully) is yet another layer of complexity woven into the system.
When faced with this awesome beauty, the professor creatively found every way possible to avoid using the word “G-d.” “Who is responsible for this?” he asked. Dutifully, one of the students answered: “Evolution.” “Correct!” he responded triumphantly. A little later during the same lecture, he referred to the “creator” of these wondrous abilities as a generic “they.” And at another point, he stated “this is due to billions of years of specialization due to evolutionary forces.” I recalled that in an earlier lecture, he had patronizingly referred to those who might believe that behind the physical realities of the world was some being, some “G-d.”
Landing in the world of academia at Tel Aviv University, I was not surprised to learn that many scientists are atheists. But what struck me today is the effort required to maintain such a stance given the wonders of the world we live in. It seems to me that the energy required to prop up the notion of there NOT being a G-d is truly astronomical (hence the title of this article). This is especially true for scientists, who are daily faced with the enormous complexity and yes, true beauty, of the inner workings of the world as we know it. And that doesn’t even take into account what we don’t know about the world, which is likely infinitely greater than what we do know.
I happened to watch a short video yesterday by Dr. Gerald Schroeder (Believe in God in 5 Minutes (Scientific Proof) – YouTube), a physicist who is also an observant Jew. Dr. Schroeder has published several books, and although the video that I watched yesterday is just a very tip-of-the-iceberg type of talk, it illustrates how the basic assumptions of science are continually challenged by new research. It seems to me that the world is slowly but surely moving towards an era of revelation – wherein even the skeptics will eventually acknowledge that there are some things which are beyond us. There is still, today, a very strong resistance to this idea.
But I hope and pray that one day, not only will people understand that there are things which are beyond our senses, this realization will also come as a huge relief, and we will all be able to experience it with great joy and bliss.
והיה ביום ההוא יהיה ה’ אחד ושמו אחד