The Theory of Everything

I do not believe that a theory can ever be found that can be applied to the entire universe.

Credit: Harry Campbell

Let’s start with what enlightenment is.

More precisely, what is the motto of enlightenment?

Sapere aude!

Sapere aude is a Latin phrase first used by Horatius in the 2nd poem of the Epistles.

It means “dare to know”.

This phrase was later quoted by Immanuel Kant at “Beantwortung der Frage: Was ist Aufklörung?” It has become the definition of enlightenment when it is used in his article.

In this article, Kant went further and stated that enlightenment is directly parallel to “trusting one’s mind”.

In fact, when we go back to the past, we see and know that one of the first people to show this courage was Galileo.

But before Galileo, there was a name we all knew: René Descartes.

“Cogito, ergo sum” (Latin: “I think, therefore I am) dictum coined by the French mathematician and philosopher René Descartes in his Discourse on Method (1637)

Albert Camus defined Galileo as:

Galileo, who held a scientific truth of great importance, abjured it with the greatest ease as soon as it endangered his life. In a certain sense, he did right. That truth was not worth the stake. Whether the earth or the sun revolves around the other is a matter of profound indifference. To tell the truth, it is a futile question.

― Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus

Indeed it was; he trusted his mind, but due to the power of the Church and the fear of death, he actually continued to live in the idea of enlightenment by using his mind, in a way, by “acting rationally”. This is actually an enlightenment resistance started inside to continue living.

Later, Nicolaus Copernicus,

Later, Johannes Kepler,

Isn’t it sad, especially before Christ, that the burning and plundering of the Library of Alexandria, this time with the rise of Christianity in Rome with the collapse of Rome and the migration of tribes?

Almost a 1,000-year-old page of science is missing. Maybe we could be living in 3023, not 2023 today. Maybe we wouldn’t be alive; who knows?

Fortunately, a genius showed up when the conditions were right: Newton.

Although born into an Anglican family and a devout but unorthodox Christian, by his thirties, Newton held a Christian faith that, had it been made public, would not have been considered orthodox by mainstream Christians. A manuscript he sent to John Locke in which he disputed the existence of the Trinity was never published.

When Newton laid out his law, it really resonated all over the world. Newton, who was also against the father-son-holy spirit trinity, stabbed his sword into the trinity of the Church with his laws. Interestingly, his position as professor at Trinity, where this trilogy takes place, forced him to keep his religious beliefs and writings secret for years.

Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who sets the planets in motion.

— Isaac Newton

He was a believer, but at the same time, he had the mind to reject anything in the way of science if necessary. The god he believed in was the rational god who made itself felt in every tissue of the universe. A god who does not deal with people’s private lives. Had set the rules and left the whole puzzle to us.

The Newton effect was huge. It grew so much that the philosophers of the period abandoned all their studies and began to question God and the science that the church rejected.

Many believed that Newton had found the secret of the entire universe and explained everything. According to them, there was no longer a problem to be solved. According to them, Newton discovered the theory of everything. But there was someone who objected to this: David Hume.

Just 12 years after Newton’s death, Hume:

No conclusive proof can be made that what we have experienced must be similar to what we have not yet experienced.

Hume does not say this because he believes in god. On the contrary, according to him, Christianity is a superstition.

This meant that Newton’s laws could never be generalized.

Indeed it was; Einstein proved Hume right many years later.

Those who could not see this truth were also wrong about Einstein. His formulas, like Newton, could not be generalized.

Gott würfelt nicht. ‘God does not play dice with the universe.’

Even Einstein was wrong. He believed that the universe was stationary and adapted his formulas accordingly, and even did not want to believe the quantum mechanics introduced in his time.

Today, we know that we cannot be sure of anything, especially with the discovery of quantum mechanics. Yes, Einstein’s theories work perfectly in the universe. Tested thousands of times and verified every time. But when we come to black holes, Einstein’s theories lose their meaning, or when we go back to the beginning of the universe, the inflationary universe that exhibits quantum behavior makes Einstein’s theories unusable.

Therefore, it seems to me that there is no single theory that can be applied to the entire universe, no matter how many phenomena still need to be discovered. We all want to find the theory behind everything, but it seems impossible given what we have experienced so far.

The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next.

— Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness

We will continue to ponder all questions about the universe, just as we have been pondering the question of why we are here for years and will continue to do so.

It’s a never-ending riddle.

Isn’t that what’s beautiful anyway? Isn’t it the uncertainty that makes life possible?