Recently, I re-started something that I haven't done regularly since I was in my late teens, early twenties. I've been reading Scientific American. I've always kept a small pipeline of awareness open to the world of science. There's a bit of a love/hate thing going on with science for me. I never really got off the ground in the world of mathematics, which -- true or not -- I always felt was a prerequisite to be a real scientist -- hence my careers in psychology and computer science.
One of my favorite compensation stories related to science was about my encounter with a research physician on one of my several flights from Chicago to Portland, Oregon. I was sitting next him as he reviewed his notes. Curious I asked him about his purpose for going to Portland. He told me that he was going to present a talk on arteriosclerosis at Oregon State University. We went on to talk about his presentation. At the conclusion of our talk I felt that I needed to confess my true ignorance and said "I really don't know much about this." to which he replied "For someone who doesn't know much about this, you are remarkably well informed!"
It appears that one of the "hot" topics in science today is "Dark Matter/Energy". According to current scientific understanding the quantity of matter and energy in the observable universe does not match the quantities required by the the mathematics used in the currently ascendant theories for the creation of our universe. At least that is my limited understanding of the issue. This topic/issue is at the macro end of the physical universe.
At the other end of the universe, scale wise, we have theories of quantum mechanics. A growing number of physicists there appear to be accepting a notion put forth by mathematician, Hugh Everett, who posited that one resolution of the quantum superposition problem implies there being multiple universes.
It is pointless for me to claim any real understanding of this whole topic. Still in my naiveté, I want to say "Duh, physicist guys don't you see a connection?" It seems to me that we'll probably find that missing stuff in another universe, you know, one of those parallel to ours but totally beyond any of our available means to apprehend. That makes as much sense to me as it's out there but we just can't find it by any of the means that we observe everything else that's out there. I mean, there is supposed to be so much of it, as I understand it, it is really hard to believe it's hiding or really lost.
In spite of my lack of understanding about these topics, I am compelled to think about them it seems. I'm pretty sure that I am not going to contribute anything new to the understanding of our universe. Of course at this point, what I do understand about what better minds than mine think, suggests that reality really isn't all it is cracked up to be. That it might just be a product of our imagination.
Descarte said "Cognito ergo sum" -- I think therefore I am -- and which may now need to be amended (too bad I don't know Latin) to read "I think therefore I am and so is everything else!"
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