I am a romantic at heart. Old houses, open fires, royalty, chivalry, poetry and books.
Science just spoils it all. OK, so I am writing this from my wireless laptop at home in Kent. The article has just saved itself automatically, in case I get interrupted. Where is it saved? Well on the web server in Manchester of course. All this takes place behind-the-scenes. The robots are friendly – so far.
But human beings have the unique ability to transcend the merely practical. Whether in art, music, literature or architecture, we aspire to things beyond ourselves. We want more than life. Science cannot grasp this. It does not have all the answers. It cannot tell us why and it can only tell us how within the very limited confines of the human mind. I am assuming of course that we are not the most intelligent species in the universe or beyond it. If we are, God help us!
Science has become our only reality. Our hope for the future. But it is a false one. Popular science on our small, wide, flat screens claims to be close to understanding everything. But if we do not know the end we have no idea how far from it we are.
We trust that our limited intellects will one day comprehend every wonder. This is faith indeed. And we believe we will do all this whilst living our short lives within the bubble of space and time. What are we really in the grand scheme of things?
A dose of humility is long overdue. God will have the last laugh.