Cosmic Religionthe vast cosmos is apparently so silent? Is it (are we) violently
destructive, so that intelligence wipes itself out before it gains
the technology required to span the distance between the stars?
Is intelligence so extraordinary that once it emerges it evolves
startlingly rapidly – and that’s our destination too? We don’t
detect alien intelligence because it outstrips our own, just as
the cognitive powers of bacteria are outstripped by us. Or is the
universe too enormous, and we’ll never know whether there is
intelligent life out there, which is to say that our cosmic state
mirrors our existential loneliness? Whatever scenario you prefer,
there’ll be a refl ection on what it is to be human implicit in it.
But if science prompts existential and metaphysical questions,
can it deliver any answers in this domain? It is the dominant dis-
course in the modern world when it comes to considering what
counts as true. So it’s no surprise that individuals with spiritual
concerns should, like Newton, turn to it – doubly so if they are
of the agnostic type, having a God-shaped hole that seeks fulfi l-
ment. But as the alchemical dream proved elusive, might science
fall short too, if we turn to it as a new source of the sacred?
Part of the problem is that no two physicists will agree about
what their science implies – whether they believe physics has
any metaphysic import. They vary on just about every ques-
tion you may ask. And many don’t bother to ask at all, or at
least they keep their thoughts quiet. But, as a rough guide,
and refl ecting on the conclusions of those who do speak out,
I reckon there are fi ve different conclusions that physicists
reach. Considering them may help decide.
The vastness of emptiness
The fi rst is strictly atheistic and materialist. There is no need
to hypothesise a quantum spirituality or cosmological divinity –
and a lot of misunderstanding arises when you do. In fact,
science does not only not spark theological beliefs or spiritual
feeling, it is really rather against them. Steven Weinberg is
one physicist who has come to this conclusion. ‘The more the