The older I get the less I understand the most basic things. Ask : “Why?” and “How” a few times; the final answer is always a mystery. Examples:
Everything started with a big bang. In a millisecond nothing expanded into the universe and it has been expanding ever since. Before that there was nothing and no time. That is a description of a mystery, not much of an explanation.
Gravity is the force of attraction between two masses. How do masses ‘know’ about each other? No signal is involved because the attraction is always there. A signal would require time to travel the distance between the two masses.
What makes a cell replicate itself? What causes replication? How does it know when to replicate and when to differentiate?
Every cell in an organism contains the instructions for building the whole organism.
Every cell in the body of a medical doctor knows more about the body than the doctor knows.
A cell can respond to changes in its environment. For instance, it can move towards light. Apparently it has sensors and muscles and it connects the two in a way that makes sense.
Modulation of a wave of electrons can carry information.
GPS requires such a wave to maintain communication between a car and a satellite. At any moment a connection with three satellites determines the location of the car within a few feet. At that same moment these three satellites do that for thousands of cars; each connected on a different wavelength. GPS signals are not the only signals criss-crossing the planet. Millions of waves carry videos and music to millions of smart phones and modems in houses. Amazing that there is room for millions of waves simultaneously and that these millions of waves do not interfere with each other. Can an electron be part of several waves at the same time? If not, how do an electron and a wave ‘know’ they belong together? Our current society depends on it and I have no idea.
A thought is a constellation of molecules that represents something. It can also trigger movement of molecules elsewhere in the body; for instance a muscle. The process can be described more in detail mentioning amino-acids and electrical impulses traveling through synapses. It remains a description of a mystery, not an explanation.
Some people create in their mind an entity beyond the reality we know to explain all mysteries. They call it God and assign human attributes like love and compassion to this God thing. How that explains anything is a mystery to me.
For many people death is a problem. Death needs no explanation. Death is the end of mystery. All life stops at some moment.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<
I was writing the text above on a laptop on an airplane. Sylvie, my 12 year old granddaughter, was sitting beside me and she read what I just wrote. She asked if she could add something. She wrote this:
“Death is death and it will happen at one point. Life is a party and parties always end. You would not want to go to a party that never ends. Sometimes the party ends too early. Think about death in this way. Let's say your life starts off as a wave. First it gets bigger, then it gets smaller until there is no wave left; just flat water. “ March 2022