Letter: Unconscious prejudice guides theory
Monday, August 15, 2011
It takes psychology, science, and theology to fully understand Discovery Channel’s Aug. 7 presentation of Stephen Hawking’s ideas on the creation of the universe. Hawking is a sincere, caring human being, but he is human and as such subject to the foibles of being human. Because, unfortunately, his movements are limited to his eyes and brain, a psychologist might suspect that someone of Hawking’s intellect and character might be driven to overcompensate by trying to provide mankind with insights that it might not otherwise develop.
Hawking applied scientific thinking to the discoveries of others to produce a theory of how the universe came to be. It featured a description of the many fortunate circumstances that need to have occurred before a planet capable of sustaining life could evolve. The problem is that the theory does not explain how life came to be. When it brushes up against that point, a point at which theology based on faith could be applied, Hawking, probably unconsciously, rejects theology without mention, perhaps because of a preconceived notion that mankind, rather than God, should rule the universe.
Gene Dombrowski
Vancouver
