PENGUIN BOOKS
THE MIND OF God by Paul Davies
Paul Davies is Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Adelaide. He obtained a Ph.D. from the University of London and has held academic appointments at the universities of London, Cambridge and Newcastle upon Tyne. He emigrated to Australia in 1990. His research interests are in the field of black holes, cosmology and quantum gravity, and he has published over one hundred specialist papers as well as several textbooks.
Professor Davies has achieved an international reputation for his ability to explain the significance of advanced scientific ideas in simple language. He is the author of some twenty books, including Superforce, God and the New Physics, Other Worlds, The Matter Myth (with John Gribbin), The Edge of Infinity, The Cosmic Blueprint, The Last Three Minutes, Are We Alone? and About Time. Many of his book are published by Penguin. The Mind of God was shortlisted for the 1993 Science Book Prize.
Well known for his media appearances in several countries, Paul Davies has also written and presented a number of TV and radio programmes, including a major series of documentaries on BBC Radio 3 and a six-part television series entitled The Big Questions. In 1995 he won the prestigious Templeton Prize, the world's largest award for intellectual endeavour, for his work on the deeper meaning of science. He is also the recipient of a Glaxo Science Writers' Fellowship, an Advance Australia Award and two Eureka Prizes for his contributions to Australian science.
Mystical Knowledge
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Most scientists have a deep mistrust of mysticism. This is not surprising, as mystical thought lies at the opposite extreme to rational thought, which is the basis of the scientific method. Also, mysticism tends to be confused with the occult, the paranormal, and other fringe beliefs. In fact, many of the world's finest thinkers, including some notable scientists such as Einstein, Pauli, Schrodinger, Heisenberg, Eddington, and Jeans, have also espoused mysticism. My own feeling is that the scientific method should be pursued as far as it possibly can. Mysticism is no substitute for scientific inquiry and logical reasoning so long as this approach can be consistently applied. It is only in dealing with ultimate questions that science and logic may fail us. I am not saying that science and logic are likely to provide the wrong answers, but they may be incapable of addressing the sort of "why" (as opposed to "how") questions we want to ask.
The expression "mystical experience" is often used by religious people, or those who practice meditation. These experiences, which are undoubtedly real enough for the person who experiences them, are said to be hard to convey in words. Mystics frequently speak of an overwhelming sense of being at one with the universe or with God, of glimpsing a holistic vision of reality, or of being in the presence of a powerful and loving influence. Most important, mystics claim that they can grasp ultimate reality in a single experience, in contrast to the long and tortuous deductive sequence (petering out in turtle trouble) of the logical-scientific method of inquiry. Sometimes the mystical path seems to involve little more than an inner sense of peace-"a compassionate, joyful stillness that lies beyond the activity of busy minds" was the way a physicist colleague once described it to me. Einstein spoke of a "cosmic religious feeling" that inspired his reflections on the order and harmony of nature. Some scientists, most notably the physicists Brian Josephson and David Bohm, believe that regular mystical insights achieved by quiet meditative practices can be a useful guide in the formulation of scientific theories.
In other cases mystical experiences seem to be more direct and revelatory. Russell Stannard writes of the impression of facing an overpowering force of some kind, "of a nature to command respect and awe. . . . There is a sense of urgency about it; the power is volcanic, pent up, ready to be unleashed."' Science writer David Peat describes "a remarkable feeling of intensity that seems to flood the whole world around us with meaning. . . . We sense that we are touching something universal and perhaps eternal, so that the particular moment in time takes on a numinous character and seems to expand in time without limit. We sense that all boundaries between ourselves and the outer world vanish, for what we are experiencing lies beyond all categories and all attempts to be captured in logical thought."'
The language used to describe these experiences usually reflects the culture of the individual concerned. Western mystics tend to emphasize the personal quality of the presence, often describing themselves as being with someone, usually God, who is different from themselves but with whom a deep bond is felt. There is, of course, a long tradition of such religious experiences in the Christian Church and among the other Western religions. Eastern mystics emphasize the wholeness of existence and tend to identify themselves more closely with the presence. Writer Ken Wilber describes the Eastern mystical experience in characteristically cryptic language:
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In chapter 6 I described how some scientists and mathematicians claim to have had sudden revelatory insights akin to such mystical experiences. Roger Penrose describes mathematical inspirations as a sudden "breaking through" into a Platonic realm. Rucker reports that Kurt Godel also spoke of the "other relation to reality," by which he could directly perceive mathematical objects, such as infinity. Godel himself was apparently able to achieve this by adopting meditative practices, such as closing off the other senses and lying down in a quiet place. For other scientists the revelatory experience happens spontaneously, in the midst of the daily clamor. Fred Hoyle relates such an incident that occurred to him while he was driving through the North of England. "Rather as the revelation occurred to Paul on the Road to Damascus, mine occurred on the road over Bowes Moor." Hoyle and his collaborator Jayant Narlikar had, in the late 1960s, been working on a cosmological theory of electromagnetism that involved some daunting mathematics. One day, as they were struggling over a particularly complicated integral, Hoyle decided to take a vacation from Cambridge to join some colleagues hiking in the Scottish Highlands.
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The central theme that I have explored in this book is that, through science, we human beings are able to grasp at least some of nature's secrets. We have cracked part of the cosmic code. Why this should be, just why Homo sapiens should carry the spark of rationality that provides the key to the universe, is a deep enigma. We, who are children of the universe-animated stardust-can nevertheless reflect on the nature of that same universe, even to the extent of glimpsing the rules on which it runs. How we have become linked into this cosmic dimension is a mystery. Yet the linkage cannot be denied.
What does it mean? What is Man that we might be party to such privilege? I cannot believe that our existence in this universe is a mere quirk of fate, an accident of history, an incidental blip in the great cosmic drama. Our involvement is too intimate. The physical species Homo may count for nothing, but the existence of mind in some organism on some planet in the universe is surely a fact of fundamental significance. Through conscious beings the universe has generated self-awareness. This can be no trivial detail, no minor byproduct of mindless, purposeless forces. We are truly meant to, be here.