This is not yet a scientific age…

Delighted to have been introduced to this fascinating piece of writing by Richard Feynman (The Value of Science). What a beautiful mind… Makes one really wonder if so-called the “objectivity” of science indeed reduces the dimensions we can see the nature wrapped in and acts as a curtain between the most majestic masterpiece and the human mind.

“I have thought about these things so many times alone that I hope you will excuse me if I remind you of this type of thought that I am sure many of you have had, which no one could ever have had in the past because people then didn’t have the information we have about the world today.
There are the rushing waves, mountains of molecules, each stupidly minding its own business, trillions apart, yet forming white surf in unison.
Ages on ages, before any eyes could see, year after year, thunderously pounding the shore as now.
For whom, for what? On a dead planet, with no life to entertain.
Never at rest, tortured by energy, wasted prodigiously by the sun, poured into space, A mite makes the sea roar.
Deep in the sea, all molecules repeat, the patterns of one another, till complex new ones are formed.
They make others like themselves, and a new dance starts.
Growing in size and complexity, living things, masses of atoms, DNA, protein, dancing a pattern ever more intricate.
Out of the cradle, onto dry land, here it is, standing: atoms with consciousness; matter with curiosity.
Stands at the sea, wonders at wondering: I, a universe of atoms, an atom in the universe.
The same thrill, the same awe, and mystery comes again and again when we look at any question deeply enough.
With more knowledge comes a deeper, more wonderful mystery, luring one on to penetrate deeper still.
Never concerned that the answer may prove disappointing, with pleasure and confidence we turn over each new stone to find unimagined strangeness leading on to more wonderful questions and mysteries – certainly a grand adventure!

Our poets do not write about it; our artists do not try to portray this remarkable thing. I don’t know why. Is no one inspired by our present picture of the universe? This value of science remains unsung by singers: you are reduced to hearing not a song or poem, but an evening lecture about it. This is not yet a scientific age.”