It is one of those evenings when I am working late to compensate for my low productivity earlier in the day. On my way to the wash room I find one of my professors ready to go back home. I said hello and I could not refrain myself from asking an academic question lingering in my mind since a few days. His answers and my counter-questions turn into a surprisingly random and interesting discussion and part of it is presented below:
Me: In the early stages of our Solar System, when Neptune was migrating outwards, there was always a chance of it colliding with Uranus, so why didn't it? (Uranus was supposedly the farthest planet in early Solar System)
Professor: We are trying to explain what happened and not what did not. There is always a chance of things going one way or the other. Today, we are standing here [read Institute of Astronomy, Leuven, Belgium, Earth, Solar System, Milky Way, Local Group, Virgo Supercluster, Universe] and talking about these things, this is by chance and strange.
Me: Indeed, it is very strange. And there are things which Science cannot explain. What do you think is the difference between a dead body and someone alive? Is it soul or spirit? Aren't we just chemical compounds?
Professor: This is a very wide question. I don't know. Yes, there are things Science cannot explain. I am a religious person but I do not think this question is fundamental in itself. People always ask me why do you do Astronomy which tells nothing about our surroundings. I say I do Astronomy for the same reason every other scientist does: why me? where did I come from? why are we here? Science is a tool to explain things in a logical way, to answer our questions. But you will never find an ultimate answer. Actually, no one ever will be able to explain everything in our universe and that is the way it should be. I know that in my lifetime I cannot get answers to all of my questions. But that is not going to stop me. Because this is how human beings live, seeking answers.
Me: Yes, after all, we are not dinosaurs!
Professor: Very well. You got my point!
Me: In the early stages of our Solar System, when Neptune was migrating outwards, there was always a chance of it colliding with Uranus, so why didn't it? (Uranus was supposedly the farthest planet in early Solar System)
Professor: We are trying to explain what happened and not what did not. There is always a chance of things going one way or the other. Today, we are standing here [read Institute of Astronomy, Leuven, Belgium, Earth, Solar System, Milky Way, Local Group, Virgo Supercluster, Universe] and talking about these things, this is by chance and strange.
Me: Indeed, it is very strange. And there are things which Science cannot explain. What do you think is the difference between a dead body and someone alive? Is it soul or spirit? Aren't we just chemical compounds?
Professor: This is a very wide question. I don't know. Yes, there are things Science cannot explain. I am a religious person but I do not think this question is fundamental in itself. People always ask me why do you do Astronomy which tells nothing about our surroundings. I say I do Astronomy for the same reason every other scientist does: why me? where did I come from? why are we here? Science is a tool to explain things in a logical way, to answer our questions. But you will never find an ultimate answer. Actually, no one ever will be able to explain everything in our universe and that is the way it should be. I know that in my lifetime I cannot get answers to all of my questions. But that is not going to stop me. Because this is how human beings live, seeking answers.
Me: Yes, after all, we are not dinosaurs!
Professor: Very well. You got my point!
