How Science Changes the way we Think, According to 10 Leading Scientists
What is the Universe up to?
Dr. Brian Green, Ethicist
“First, biochemistry and genetics led me to marvel at the deep complexity of life and of any Universe that could create such life. Second, science lays out a causal trail to the origin of the Universe and then stops at a question mark — a place it can no longer investigate. And yet we know that this non-investigable place must have an ability to cause effects, otherwise our Universe could not exist. Together, both are profoundly suspicious. The Universe came into existence from a cause outside itself and it seems to be doing something, developing from simplicity towards complexity. This was enough to tell me that what we can see through science is only the tip of the iceberg. The Universe is doing something and, as parts of the Universe, we each have a place in that activity. The next step is to consider what the Universe is doing and what our part might be, and that — our own better and worse behavior when confronted by this realization — is the question of ethics. This is why I changed my career to what I do now.”
Brian Green, director of technology ethics, quoted by Big Think.