Lawless Universe: Science and the Hunt for Reality

THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF SCIENCE, and especially of physics, since the start of the twentieth century have radically changed the conception of nature we had held in earlier times. These achievements have revolutionized our view of the universe, even of reality itself. We surely enjoy many of the technological benefits accruing from these advances of science, and also suffer from some of the results. But it is on our intellectual grasp of the world around us and on our role in it, even on our philosophy of reality, where the impact of modern science is truly shattering. As it happens, this intellectual adventure of humankind is largely confined to the circles of scientists and of science-oriented philosophers. And that is a great pity. The general public, who pays for this exciting enterprise, should be given the opportunity to share it.

Fortunately, a number of scientists, who possess the all-too-rare talent of being able to explain their fields to those willing to make the effort to understand, have written popularizing books in recent years. Among them are scientists who themselves play active, even pivotal, roles in the advancement of modern science. Moreover, a number of excellent science writers, who have learned their science well, have joined them. Together, they have produced a wide selection of remarkable books. These books present, in a style accessible to the curious layperson, the modern scientific conception of the fundamental aspects and phenomena of nature, as well as the impressive achievements of scientists in gaining understanding of those aspects and phenomena. Such books are most welcome. All praise is due the authors’ attempts to share the excitement with those for whom science is not their way of life.

Science, by its nature and structure, cannot in principle comprehend the material universe as a whole. Through science we can, and indeed do, discover order and laws governing various aspects and phenomena of the material universe, and we gain understanding of them. But the material universe in its entirety intrinsically lies beyond science. Within the framework of science, the concept of a law governing the universe as a whole is meaningless. An understanding of everything, a “Theory of Everything,” even only of everything of material nature, is but a mirage. As far as science is concerned, the material universe as a whole is orderless, lawless, and unexplainable. Any understanding of the whole, if it is to be found at all, can come only from outside science, from nonscientific modes of comprehension and insight.

The main theme of this book is that science, its phenomenal insights notwithstanding, can go only so far in comprehending nature. In this book, we’ll see just how far science can go. We’ll consider what the domains of science and of metaphysics are, where science leaves off and metaphysics sets forth. Yet we’ll observe that science and metaphysics are intimately entangled: metaphysical considerations are unavoidable in science, and science influences our metaphysical positions. We’ll learn what science tells us about reality. One thing it tells us is that the objectivity it seeks is not to be found at the level of the world of our personal perceptions and must lie in a deeper reality, one that science does not fully comprehend and likely never will.

Another theme of the book is an apparent contradiction, even a paradox. On the one hand, the universe as a whole is intrinsically orderless, lawless, and unexplainable through science. Yet on the other hand, it is obvious that within the universe there are order and laws that science comprehends and explains. How can there be both order and law within the lawless universe?

This leads us to, among other things, the anthropic principle—the use of the existence of human beings as an unconventional explanation of other aspects and phenomena of nature. Following a thorough consideration of its advantages and limitations, we’ll see the true status of the anthropic principle as a scientific explanatory tool.

Yet another thread is the position of humankind in the universe and in science. That thread leads us to the fact that science is a human endeavor. It also leads us to the anthropic principle.

This book is a sequel to, a complement for, even an antidote for, books that create the misimpression that science can explain everything. I hope you have already read one or more of them. (Reading them would be useful here, but not essential.) But if you have indeed formed the mistaken impression I’m concerned about, I hope to remedy that. In any case, I hope you’ll find that what I have to say is interesting.

In this book I present my personal view of science, nature, the universe, reality, and the position of humankind in all that—a sort of The Way Things Are According to JR, or How Things Go According to Joe, or Rosen’s Ruminations on Reality. I have my own opinions and biases and don’t hesitate to express them, although I do try to put them in perspective and express them clearly. Some of my views are mainstream, shared by most scientists. Others are more or less unconventional, yet fully justified and completely respectable. Among the unconventional is the view that cosmology reaches beyond the domain of science and is basically metaphysics. Another is that the origin of the lawful behavior of quasi-isolated systems lies with the universe as a whole (the so-called extended Mach principle). A third is that the anthropic principle can provide valid, though limited, explanations within science. For more, and for the details, you’ll have to read the book.

To the philosophy-minded reader I should emphasize that this is not a philosophical treatise. I’m writing about science and its near neighborhood. I try to present relevant issues as a scientist, not as a philosopher. If I use certain terms and concepts loosely by your standards, I do so to help the presentation and clarify the issues: I’m convinced that for my purposes the gain from so doing outweighs the loss.

Many thanks to my editor, Trevor C. Lipscombe, who is editor-in-chief of the Johns Hopkins University Press. His insightful comments and suggestions have helped me greatly to improve my presentation. And many thanks also to William W. Carver, my copy editor, who made this book much more readable than the manuscript was before he worked his magic on it.

Now let’s get down to business and see how science operates within a lawless universe, and how science serves us in our quest for an objective understanding of nature.