PTSD

I don't want to hear about the OSU game

There are other things going on in the world. And it was a miserable football game. But every once in a while, I see something on a blog that everyone ought to read. So I'm going to ignore that it was written by a Penn State fan.

The world is not magic. The world follows patterns, obeys unbreakable rules. We never reach a point, in exploring our universe, where we reach an ineffable mystery and must give up on rational explanation; our world is comprehensible, it makes sense. I can’t imagine saying it better. There is no way of proving once and for all that the world is not magic; all we can do is point to an extraordinarily long and impressive list of formerly-mysterious things that we were ultimately able to make sense of. There’s every reason to believe that this streak of successes will continue, and no reason to believe it will end. If everyone understood this, the world would be a better place.

Of course, there are different connotations to the word “magical.” One refers to inscrutable mystery, but another refers simply to a feeling of wonder or delight. And our world is full of that kind of magic.

*snip*

We shouldn’t feel disappointed that the march of understanding removes an element of mystery from the world; we should be appreciative of how much there is to know and the endless variety of ways in which our sensible universe continues to surprise us. The very fact that our world is comprehensible should fill us with wonder and delight. The world is not magic — and that’s the most magical thing about it.

Found at Cosmic Variance

ETA: I realized that we've cited Cosmic Variance three times this week. Any more, and we're going to need fan club hats.

posted by Elizabeth @ 6:58 PM