Astronomy versus astrology

The way many physicists and philosophers are today divided over
the meaning of quantum mechanics is rather like the different
religious beliefs. Some defend their view passionately and argue
that anyone who holds a view other than their own is foolishly
wrong. Others are agnostic in that they cannot decide which
version of quantum mechanics to ‘believe in’. Since one’s preferred
interpretation is something that cannot be proved, nor can the
opposing view be refuted, it becomes a matter of faith. This is not
the way science should work, nor in general does it. The following
quote is from the physicist Michio Kaku in his book Hyperspace:
“Some people have accused scientists of creating a new theology based
on mathematics; that is, we have rejected the mythology of religion,
only to embrace an even stranger religion based on curved spacetime,
particle symmetries and cosmic expansion. While priests may chant
incantations in Latin that hardly anyone understands, physicists
chant arcane equations that even fewer understand. The ‘faith’ in
an all-powerful God is now replaced by ‘faith’ in quantum mechanics
and general relativity.”
So how can non-scientists ever be sure of anything the
scientists tell them?
Do not for one minute think that physics is about being
open to doubt and uncertainty or that our description of reality
is just a matter of personal taste. Today is a Thursday therefore
I believe in parallel universes, tomorrow I shall wear my lucky
blue socks and so will firmly subscribe to the notion that cosmic
strings exist and so on. Science is all about finding the rules that
nature follows, discovering a theory and then testing it again and
again to see whether it is the correct description of reality. If
it fails it is discarded. Many non-scientists often think of us as
being too narrow minded and bigoted towards new ideas and
possibilities, especially when it comes to things like paranormal
phenomena. However, when told that a certain crystal has magical
healing powers or that it is able to respond to some sort of psychic
energy, a scientist will want to know what form of energy this
is, and whether the power it is suppose to have is explainable by the known laws of nature. Can it be replicated? Can it
be measured? If it is a new energy or force can its properties
be understood? The plain and simple fact is that, so far, and
believe me many have searched for over one hundred years now,
there has been no scientific evidence whatsoever for any sort
of psychic phenomenon. This is not for want of trying or due
to a lack of imagination or sufficient open-mindedness on the
part of the scientists but rather because all such claims quickly
dissolve away in the face of the rigorous demands of scientific
inquiry.
Remember that scientists have to be open minded or they
would never discover anything new, but they nevertheless take
a good deal of convincing when confronted with any new or as
yet unexplained phenomenon. A physicist friend of mine, James
Christley, once quoted to me the dictum:
“Be open-minded but not so much so that your brain falls out.”
This is sound advice. We have come a long way since the
age of superstition and magic. Hundreds of years ago, astrology
had a strong hold over people. Today most people know that it is
nonsense to believe that a distant star, the light from which may
have been travelling for thousands of years before it reaches us,
could somehow have a real effect on how our daily lives are played
out. But in the sixteenth century even astronomers believed in
astrology. Another example is the origin of the word ‘flu’ which
is short for the Italian word ‘influenza’ meaning ‘influence’ of the
planets, because it was believed that they affected our well-being.
Do you believe that now or do you accept that there is such a thing
as a flu virus?
Science is making advances all the time, and those advances
are towards truth and enlightenment. The path is not always
straight and we sometimes go up blind alleys, but overall we have
made pretty impressive progress. Since I plan to be around for
the first half of the twenty first century I hope that during that
time we find that the Universe still has many surprises in store for
us.