Intangible

Belief and knowing

Some want to believe, some are forced to believe, some have feelings that lead them to believe. Whatever the case, believing is different to knowing. I know that basic numbers restrict design. I know that there is only one way the universe can be built. I know that if I were to let go of a cup of coffee it will fall to the floor. I know that the cup and the Earth have a gravitational pull on them that draws them together. Every time I let go of an item, the item falls to the floor. Believing that any item I let go of will also fall to the floor is beyond a strong belief, it is a knowing. Knowing too that it is just about plausible, that in theory, a tsunami could wash in at the precise moment you let go of the item you were holding. Then the item would have enough buoyancy to not fall towards the Earth. Knowing is knowing the difference between very certain and ruinously improbable.

One may propose that this book has been designed and that equates somehow to the idea that all things need a designer. Atoms combine in limited ways. Those atoms form structure. The structure leads to chemistry which in turn leads to biology. At the biology stage a form of intelligence emerges which can indeed design things. It can also speculate and answer questions in clever and not so clever ways. Biology can also create entities that are delusional and persistently dogmatically in denial. Those in denial will not examine structures. They will not see for themselves that basic units can only assemble in limited ways. The astute ones use the world around them to test what they know. There will be gaps in what we know. That is good for if we knew all there is to know we would no longer need the curiosity mechanism. That mechanism has emerged to drive us to fill those gaps.

Gaps in our present knowledge do not give cause for doubt. Gaps do not leave the door open for remote possibilities or alternate speculative theories. There were gaps in the early periodic table. They surmised that certain elements were there to be found and find they did. Likewise, in due course, gaps in the knowledge of how true atoms create all, you included, will be filled and mysteries will be dispelled. Enough is known at present to know for sure.