Reality poetry

This is not the first time I have started a column with this quote, but I wanted to return to it, because its topic seems to me to be of paramount importance. Its author, the English evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, has launched a new podcast, Poetry of Reality, in which he works to highlight the beauty of nature, and this from a purely scientific perspective. This is the kind of project that should do useful work.

This may seem trivial, but nevertheless it is true that most people, despite their apparent ability to see the beauty of the world around them, do not seem able to accept it. By this I mean that it is often necessary for them to add some form of ‘magic’ or ‘mystery’, as if nature were not enough on its own and that it must be inhabited by mysterious forces or supernatural beings.

Isn’t reality complex enough already without having to add such illusions? Certainly, many questions remain unanswered—and perhaps they always will, but that does not mean that this justifies resorting to irrational beliefs, ready answers, and/or definitive answers (commonly called dogmas).

It is true that science has often been accused of “bringing the world down,” that is, of making it lose its luster. However, if it is true that scientific explanations are accompanied by a decline in religious and magical beliefs, the latter – unfortunately – have not said their last word. Above all, we must forget that science itself lends itself well to a form of exclamation. Only, it does not allow itself to be carried away by the fantasies of religions and other irrational beliefs.

Contrary to popular belief, science actually calls for meditation, and thus a form of spirituality. From this it is understood that it makes possible the development of the soul, and this is not only in the rational dimension, but also in the emotional one. That is why we can so easily move away at sunset, or “meditate” on the meaning of life while contemplating the heavenly vault. In short, reality has its own poetry that challenges us in the depths of our being.

In addition to Dawkins and his new podcast, many other scholars have long been promoting this “poetry of reality.” I think especially of Albert Einstein and Carl Sagan, but also, closer to home, Hubert Reeves. All of these authors were able to convey to their readers important values ​​such as intellectual curiosity and respect for nature, without having to resort to supernatural explanations.

But more than anything else, science also calls us to be humble. In fact, she does not invite us, she forces us! Science forces us to recognize the limits of knowledge, but also, above all, to reconsider our place in the natural order. Obviously, I am thinking of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, but this applies to many other scientific discoveries that help us better understand and accept the world as it is, and not as we would like it to be.

Science, like philosophy, is a demanding discipline, because it does not provide us with a ready answer and/or final answer. So we must learn to live almost constantly in doubt and uncertainty. This may sound intimidating, but nonetheless, they are essential ingredients for building truly rational and critical thinking. Above all, as the English philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell so well showed, it is doubt and uncertainty that reintroduce wonders in a universe which habit and prejudice tend to underestimate.