Remarks on Cosmology and Morality

Today, another scientific revolution is beginning, one that may change our view of the cosmos as radically as the last. And today it again seems likely that the effects of this revolution, both social and scientific, will be profound. If the universe is truly infinite in time and space, then the implications go well beyond cosmology to our view of nature, to religion, philosophy and society as a whole. (Lerner, 1991)

A correct understanding of the Cosmos is a correct understanding of ourselves. Though we see matter as discrete 'particles', this is an illusion due to the Darwinian evolution of our minds (reason tells us that there must be a connection between things). We must simply gaze at the stars and consider how we can see them to realize that we must be connected to them – that we are a part of those stars, just as those stars are a part of us! This is the true 'mystical/religious' experience, to see beyond the daily illusion of life here on Earth and realize our true existence as structures of the cosmos. Thus the foundations for Human Morality, 'To do unto others as you would have done unto yourself' is true, for the 'other' is in fact a part of the 'self'. This morality is at the heart of all world Religions (the word religion comes from Latin 'Religare' which means 'to bind', i.e. how we are bound/connected to the cosmos). Currently the world suffers great conflicts, not only between people, but also with the destruction of Nature. (It was my love of Nature, and despair at its destruction, that first led me to study Philosophy and Physics as a way of understanding what Nature actually is.) And after many years of study, I now write this believing it to be a true account of how matter and thus ourselves (as a part of Nature) exist in the Universe. I believe that this is important, simply because I am now convinced that it is true because it explains so many things so simply and sensibly. (And I well realise how unfashionable is my belief in Truth in our 'enlightened' age of No Absolute Truths!). All philosophers though, have realized that Humanity must know the truth to be wise, as this necessarily limits how we may behave.I know that my opinion on this is irrelevant, I simply agree with Schrodinger;

The scientist only imposes two things, namely truth and sincerity, imposes them upon himself and upon other scientists. (Schrodinger, 1967)

So I sincerely ask that this Metaphysics of Space and Motion be fairly judged with an open mind to determine its truth. Perhaps I am a romantic, but it is my hope that in the future Humanity will live by the truth, with greater harmony between different people, their religions and cultures, and to life in all its complex beauty. As Einstein profoundly writes;

A human being is part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. The true value of a human being is determined by the measure and the sense in which they have obtained liberation from the self. We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive. (Albert Einstein, 1954)

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