Reflections
Since ages, humans have been curious and have asked themselves: How was the world created? Where do we come from? What happens after death? What keeps the sun, moon and stars on their orbits in the sky?
Questions like these are often asked by children. However, most people stop thinking about such fundamental issues when they grow up. Those who can't stop thinking may be drawn to science. Unfortunately, they then will be disappointed to discover that science has still not found satisfying answers to many of these essential questions. Today's scientists instead deal with a multitude of detailed problems of lesser importance.
We reflect on why the scientific system avoids those essential questions and how our way of approaching them relates to established science in a number of essays which can be found here.
The German term 'Welträtsel' (engl. 'grand enigmas') goes back to a controversy among scholars in the late 19th century. They debated animously whether science will be capable of clarifying the fundamental questions of our understanding of the world.
Despite what politicians and academics tell: in most areas scientific and technological progress is actually slowing down.
Most laypeople admire physics for the insights that famous individuals such as Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein have provided. Physics has also gained great recognition among philosophers of science, whose approach has often been recommended to other scientific disciplines for imitation. On closer inspection, however, the state of knowledge in physics is not so good.
It is not only in wine (“in vino veritas”) that there is sometimes a grain of truth. Even in advertising (“vendo” in Latin) there is sometimes an important kernel of truth that is worth thinking about more closely.
Do amateur researchers mainly spread nonsense or can they contribute to the progress of science?
In today's Western societies, diversity is considered welcome and worthy of support. But what is the real impact of diversity in thinking?
