Skip to content
Vatican Observatory
  • About
    • Overview
    • Team
    • FAQ
  • Telescopes
    • Overview
    • Telescope Images
  • Latest
    • Overview
    • Resources
    • Press
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Research
    • Authors
      • FAQs
    • Newsletter
    • Tucson Meteor Cameras
  • Podcast
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Resource Center
    • Image Gallery
    • Summer School
    • Books
    • Software
    • Additional Resources
    • ACME
    • Ambassadors
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Support
    • Overview
    • Donate Now
    • Smart Ways to Give
    • Sacred Space Astronomy
      • View Content
    • Fr. Coyne Fundraiser
    • Bequests / Trusts
    • The Foundation
      • Newsletters
      • Annual Reports
  • Press
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
    • Contact
  • About
    • Overview
    • Team
    • FAQ
  • Telescopes
    • Overview
    • Telescope Images
  • Latest
    • Overview
    • Resources
    • Press
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Research
    • Authors
      • FAQs
    • Newsletter
    • Tucson Meteor Cameras
  • Podcast
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Resource Center
    • Image Gallery
    • Summer School
    • Books
    • Software
    • Additional Resources
    • ACME
    • Ambassadors
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Support
    • Overview
    • Donate Now
    • Smart Ways to Give
    • Sacred Space Astronomy
      • View Content
    • Fr. Coyne Fundraiser
    • Bequests / Trusts
    • The Foundation
      • Newsletters
      • Annual Reports
  • Press
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
    • Contact

Across the Universe: Jabberwocky and the Curious Cat

By Br. Guy Consolmagno  |  26 Sep 2019

Share:
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email

This entry is part 94 of 201 in the series Across the Universe

This column first ran in The Tablet in September, 2008; we published it here in 2016.

A correspondent in Britain has sent to me an article from the Times about Jonny Wilkinson, a famous rugby player, who has found the meaning of life in a combination of “esoteric science and Buddhism.” He is quoted saying, “I read about Schrödinger’s Cat and it had a huge effect on me… It was all about the idea that an observer can change the world just by looking at something; the idea that mind and reality are somehow interconnected. It is difficult to put into words, but it hit me like a steam train.”

I know little of rugby and nothing at all of Mr. Wilkinson. As for Buddhism and quantum physics, I did study both while doing philosophy as a young Jesuit: one semester of each. Mostly, I learned that one semester’s study was not nearly enough to qualify me as an expert on either.

But it was enough to convince me that the connection between the two is tenuous at best. For instance, consider Schrödinger’s Cat: a cat is in a box with a device that randomly may or may not kill the cat, but we don’t know if the cat is alive or not until we open the box and look. To conclude that our looking is what kills the cat, is certainly one way to interpret the result, I suppose…

An original illustration of the Jabberwocky, from Through the Looking Glass and what Alice found there, drawn by John Tenniel. from www.alice-in-wonderland.net

The Buddhism/physics connection has been a popular meme of journalists and pop science writers for more than thirty years. Martin Gardner, who wrote for many years in Scientific American, once compared the words of one such author to Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky”: “As Alice remarked,” he said, “they seem to mean something, but it’s hard to pin down just what.” (Gardner was also the author of The Annotated Alice.)

I found reading philosophers during my Jesuit studies to be very, very difficult. At first blush their works also reminded me of Jabberwocky. With some patient teachers, however, I was able eventually to get a glimmer of the wisdom behind their verbiage. Unlike physicists, philosophers can’t fall back on equations to get their point across; and so often they write not to much to be understood, but rather to guarantee that they will not be misunderstood – that the only possible meaning one can extract from their words is in fact the meaning they intended. This does tend to result, however, in challenging sentence structures.

Truth in science does not necessarily lead to truth in theology. But at least it can help you recognize truth by showing you what truth tends to look like. In both my science and my religion, I am used to finding important truths poorly understood. My master’s thesis tried to describe the moons of Jupiter with computer models that I now know were fatally flawed; but the subsequent Voyagers to Jupiter found pretty much what I predicted there. Our theology of original sin has serious difficulties, but anyone who denies the reality of original sin hasn’t been reading the news lately. In both cases, we know ahead of time what the answer ought to look like; the role of the theorist, in science and theology, is to try to explain what we already are pretty sure is true. And we never get it entirely right.

Just because something is very hard to grasp, doesn’t mean it’s nonsense. But it also doesn’t mean it’s true. Before I commit to studying an advanced philosopher (or physicist) I need a certain faith that the effort will be worth the struggle. I can only have that faith by having teachers I trust. That’s why I spent so many years studying at MIT, rather than trying to pick up physics on my own out of a book. That’s why I belong to a Church.

Share:
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email

Sacred Space Astronomy

The Vatican Observatory’s official digital community and online magazine.

Become a Member

Recent Posts

Justine Siegemund, Google Doodle Scientist

By Mr. Christopher Graney  |  28 Mar 2023  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

From The Backyard: Seasons Change

By Fr. James Kurzynski  |  27 Mar 2023

Conjunction of the Moon and Pollux – March 29-30

By Robert Trembley  |  27 Mar 2023  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Conjunction of the Moon and Mars – March 28

By Robert Trembley  |  27 Mar 2023  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Archives

      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • August
      • June
      • March
      • January
      • November
      • October
      • December
      • November
      • April
      • May
      • January
      • December
      • September
      • May
      • March
      • December
      • November
      • February

More Posts in this Series:
"Across the Universe"

78  |  What Do We Lose When We Sacrifice Science?

By Br. Guy Consolmagno  |  27 May 2021  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

69  |  To err is human… to admit it, is science

By Br. Guy Consolmagno  |  25 Mar 2021  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

93  |  Across the Universe: The Year (2011) in Astronomy

By Br. Guy Consolmagno  |  25 Aug 2016

95  |  Across the Universe: Waiting for the Call

By Br. Guy Consolmagno  |  15 Sep 2016

96  |  From the Tablet: God is dead; long live the eternal God

By Br. Guy Consolmagno  |  22 Sep 2016

Newsletter

Upcoming astronomical events, scientific breakthroughs, philosophical reflections… just a few reasons to subscribe to our newsletter!

Vatican Observatory
  • About
  • Telescopes
  • Latest
  • Podcast
  • Education
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Support
  • Press
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
Privacy Policy  |   Cookie Policy  |   Disclosure Statement

Podcast:

  • Apple Podcasts Listen onApple Podcasts
  • Spotify Listen onSpotify
  • Google Podcasts Listen onGoogle Podcasts
  • Stitcher Listen onStitcher
  • Amazon Alexa Listen onAmazon Alexa
  • TuneIn Listen onTuneIn
Made by Longbeard