THE ‘THEORY OF EVERYTHING’
Although Einstein was born into a Jewish family, after studying science, he doubted God’s existence. A year or so before his death, in January 1954, he wrote a letter in German to a Jewish philosopher, Eric B. Gutkind, stating that the word ‘God’ was nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness.
What Einstein thought to be human weakness was not weakness but a unique aspect of man. This attribute can be rightly stated as: “Man is an explanation-seeking creature.” This unique feature of man is the basis for all of man’s intellectual advances. Because of this unique feature, man seeks to explain things and advance in his quest. If man had not possessed this unique feature, human civilization might not have advanced beyond the primary stage.
About Einstein himself, it is said that during the last 30 years or so of his life, he kept trying to find a scientific answer to a particular question but could not succeed. In Einstein’s words, this question was about discovering a unified field theory. From a scientific point of view, this question is so important that it has become the focus of many theoretical scientists. These days, this question is generally known as a ‘Theory of Everything.’
Now, what is this ‘Theory of Everything’? It is about discovering a mathematical formula that can scientifically explain all the phenomena in the universe. A ‘Theory of Everything’ is a theory that can explain everything.
Under the European Organization for Nuclear Research, a project was launched in 1998 in Switzerland called the ‘Large Hadron Collider.’ Much money was spent on the project—tens of millions of dollars. The project received the assistance of some 10,000 scientists from almost 100 countries. Although the project was unsuccessful, it aimed to discover a theory of everything.
Almost a century has been spent trying to discover a ‘Theory of Everything,’ or, more appropriately, an ‘Explanation of Everything,’ but scientists could not succeed. This is because the correct explanation of the phenomena of the universe can be obtained only if one accepts the existence of God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. No mathematical formula can ever become the answer to this question. Searching for the answer to this question in mathematical formulae is like trying to quench one’s thirst by eating rubber instead of drinking water.
