In the previous article, we considered one fundamental question that science cannot answer. Here we take a look at another.
When we look at the distribution of stuff – matter and energy – in the universe, we find that it is distributed non-uniformly. This applies at the cosmic scale of clusters of galaxies, right down to the microscopic scale. This is an odd situation to have arisen. It seems much more likely that stuff would be exactly evenly distributed.
Once there is a tiny perturbation in the field, chaos theory allows for things to get really wild and diverse. The question is, how or why did a tiny variation creep into the system?
From the moment of the big bang, as the universe expands, the scientific approach is looking for physical theories which apply across the whole of space. (This requirement of spatial invariance was discussed in an earlier article.) There cannot be a theory which applies in a spatially invariant way and at the same time explains spatial variation coming into existence in a hitherto uniform field. It is another fundamental question which is simply outside the scope of the scientific approach.
This is a deeply significant question because without spatial variation, the whole universe would be filled with a uniform soup of energy (and matter, if it is possible for mass to come into existence in a uniform field, which seems unlikely). In such a uniform field, there could never be any structure: no galaxies, no stars, no planets, no lifeforms, no you, no me. It would be a very uninteresting existence.
Once there is some perturbation in the universe, once some variation has come into existence, then science can explore how that evolves with time. Like with the last question we considered, it’s the first step which is fundamentally problematic for science.
Once again, the mystic simply states that we will never be able to answer this question. It is, and always will be, a mystery as to why stuff in the universe is not distributed uniformly.
