Some people scoff at science. They say this: “One day, scientists say one thing, and the next thing, they say another. You can’t believe any of them.”
It is called — wait for it — — DISCOVERY.
Yes. That is how science works. We humans find something in our world or beyond that is unknown. And then, our scientists conduct what is called “research” and when they assimilate data, they call it a discovery of fact.
People. People. People.
Pretend the Corona Virus is a stick of dynamite. We’ve never seen dynamite before, we don’t know how it works, but we have heard that people from other places have been hurt, or even killed by this thing called dynamite. This long red stick.
So scientists begin to watch what it does and report the facts to this.
They first come back and say, “Hey. We think putting fire to this thing is bad. We don’t know how it is that the fire will work on this, but if it happens, the results will be terrible.”
A few days later. “Yes, putting a lighter near this is terrible. The dynamite blows up. But, we don’t exactly know the worst way to put fire to this. So for now, don’t put any fire near the butt end, the body or the white thing called a wick.”
Then, more discovery. More data. “Okay, here’s what we know now. Fire anywhere is bad. But if you put your lighter to the white wick, the thing will explode very FAST. It will still blow up if the flames are continually held to the tail end or the body. But the wick is the WORST. Don’t light the wick.”
The people say, “Oh, but a few days ago, you said don’t put the flames ANYWHERE. And now you are saying, we shouldn’t light the wick? You don’t know what you are talking about.”
So the people light up the dynamite and start getting hurt and dying.
Then the people proclaim: “Please, then, tell us, good scientists, why is it killing some of us, and just blowing the hands off of others?”
The scientists say, “We don’t know right now.” And then they responsibly get back to work in their labs.
A few days later, they return. “If you hold the dynamite way, way out here, it will just blow off your hand when you light the wick. If you hold it here, near your chest, and light it, the dynamite will kill you.”
So. It seems they don’t want to die or lose their hands, and the people quit lighting the dynamite. They leave it locked up in piles, and no one is hurt.
Soon though, their wee-little brains forget, and once again, they scoff:
“You SEE what we told you? That dynamite hasn’t hurt anyone. We’ve had it there, in that big pile locked away, and no one was hurt or killed. It is harmless.”
And so they open the door, bring out the dynamite, their lighters, and they begin to play. Explosively.
That. Is how science works. And unfortunately, many humans.
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“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”
― Isaac Asimov
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“If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?”
― Albert Einstein
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“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”
― Carl Sagan
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