Renowned astronomer, physicist, and cosmologist, Robert Jastrow, wrote the following in his book, God and the Astronomers (first published in 1978):

“For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance, he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries”

If we are to predict whether or not Robert Jastrow’s ‘bad dream’ will actually unfold, we need to understand how far ‘up the mountain of ignorance’ science has progressed to date. We do this by first looking at the present paradigm which is responsible for the world we have created for ourselves.

Present Paradigm

A paradigm is a common or collective belief based on a set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitute a way of viewing reality for the society that shares them.

The Belief

While each society may have their own particular paradigm, the belief that selfishness is a fait accompli underpins the paradigm of most societies. Selfishness is generally accepted by all societies as a human condition against which we must constantly struggle in order to keep it in check.

The People

The general acceptance of this belief allows a critical mass¹ of individuals in all societies to treat selfishness, and its consequences, in a very blasé manner – ‘it’s natural, what do you expect me to do about it’ attitude!!!

In the interest of balance and fairness it is necessary to state that there are many honest, hardworking, generous people in all walks of life – however, the significant point is that a critical mass in most societies are dominated by selfishness.

The Main Institutions

Since a critical mass in all societies are dominated by selfishness, it is logical to suggest that all institutions will be dominated by selfishness. Furthermore, individuals, especially the cunning ones, who frequently rise to the top in all institutions, can indulge in their selfish pursuits while hiding behind the bureaucracy of a faceless institution. In these situations selfishness usually gives way to greed and once that occurs, corruption and abuse of power will almost inevitably follow every time the opportunity presents itself. That is why all our political, public service, financial, and religious institutions worldwide are dominated by a culture of selfishness, corruption, abuse of power and greed (SCAG for short).

The World

The SCAG culture, particularly in all our main institutions, creates a world of pain and suffering – for example poverty, starvation, conflict, war, racial/social/religious discrimination, terrorism, and so on. Even in affluent western democracies there are significant levels of poverty, struggle, violence, crime, and neglect of the vulnerable.

Obviously we will not progress far up ‘Robert Jastrow’s mountain’ on the back of our present paradigm. The next step, therefore, is to try to understand the scientific view of reality underpinning this paradigm.

The Present Scientific View of Reality

The present scientific view of reality shown in Figure 1 indicates that the main influences informing human consciousness are mind, science, religion, and politics. There are, of course, other influences as well, such as art, music, literature, philosophy, etc, but these are usually voluntary, while we cannot live in a society that is not influenced/controlled by politics and religion, and influenced/informed by science. Of these four main influences, mind is the most dominant, as it directly influences human consciousness as well as religion, politics, and science.

Figure 1; The Present Scientific View of Reality

The significant points relevant to Figure 1 are as follows:

1. According to science, the fundamental understanding of the universe is that it is completely physical² in nature
2. The scientific understanding of mind and consciousness is based on the theory of emergent evolution which suggests that, in the course of evolution, some entirely new properties, such as mind and consciousness, appear at certain critical points, usually because of an unpredictable rearrangement of already existing entities. In short, science posits that mind and consciousness are completely physical in nature.
3. Mind is therefore influenced by the natural propensity of matter, which is toward lower complexity as explained by the second law of thermodynamics and the concept of entropy.
4. In terms of human consciousness, the lowest level of complexity is to offer care and compassion to the ‘self’ only (selfishness). Examples of increasing levels of complexity are to offer care and compassion to family, community, society, country, and eventually to all humanity
5. The physical aspect of life is therefore dragging mind, and consequently human consciousness, toward selfishness.

The argument thus far suggests that the present scientific view of reality supports the belief which underpins the present paradigm which in turn is responsible for creating our present world of pain and suffering, as described above. I believe that this argument strongly suggests that the present scientific view of reality will not empower us to reach the top of the mountain – we therefore require a new one.

A New Scientific View of Reality

I believe that scientists are on the cusp of a new understanding regarding the origin and evolution of the universe and life. A new scientific view of reality will then emerge from that new understanding.

Based on the concepts and arguments in my paper titled The Grand Interactive Model of Reality, I predict that the new scientific view of reality will be roughly as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: A New Scientific View of Reality

The significant points in this view of reality are as follows:

1. Dark energy is a non-physical² phenomenon which scientists suggest is responsible for the expansion of the universe, and is therefore expansionary in nature. I believe it has additional characteristics as follows:
   • It influences life and is responsible for the expansion of human consciousness
   • It is the source of our compassion, love, creativity, intelligence, and joy.
2. Mind is therefore influenced by both the physical and non-physical aspects of life. This brings balance to our mind by counteracting the natural trait of selfishness.
3. Human consciousness will therefore become dominated by an attitude of love, care, and compassion instead of selfishness.
4. When a critical mass of people embraces this reality, our main institutions will slowly become dominated by a culture of love, care, and compassion.
5. This will create a world of joy and happiness rather than pain and suffering.

The Top of the Mountain

Empowered by this new view of reality, the scientists will ‘pull themselves over the final rock’; and to their dismay, ‘they will be greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries’.

Showing the theologians Figure 2 the scientists will say: – “it has taken us more than five hundred years to understand this view of reality – which empowered us to reach the top. How did you get here without it?”

The theologians will then show the scientists Figure 3, saying this is the view of reality that empowered us to reach the top centuries ago.

Figure 3: Theological View of Reality

Both groups will then sit down and compare the two views, and they will quickly conclude that they are synonymous – the two views express exactly the same view of reality, and differ only in terminology.

At last science and theology will have reached a common understanding.

However, even at that point there will be questions which are beyond human understanding, for example:

1. What is the nature of the Black Hole/God the Father?
2. What was there before the Black Hole/God the Father?
3. Why do we exist?
4. Why is there something rather than nothing?

However we should not dwell on these questions now – rather we should work together to reach the top of the mountain at which point we will be much better able to address these questions.

Foot Notes

1. Critical mass is a sociodynamic term that describes the existence of sufficient momentum in a social system such that the momentum becomes self-sustaining and fuels further growth.
2. Physical (or physical universe) is gravitational in nature and includes all forms of matter, energy, and momentum, and the physical forces, laws, and constants that govern them. Non-physical is expansionary in nature and includes everything other than the physical. The non-physical can be viewed as pre-physical or pre-particle – in other words, the state that existed before elementary particles emerged. I believe that both dark matter and dark energy are non-physical which means the physical state only accounts for 5% of reality.