Darwin’s evolutionary theory, Milgram’s electric shock experiments and Galileo’s weight throwing are just some of the many findings that have rocked our world view
GALILEO GALILEI is reputed to have dropped a 1lb weight and a 10lb weight simultaneously from the leaning tower of Pisa, demonstrating that both reach the ground at the same time.
Aristotle’s view from the armchair was that the heavier weight would fall faster. The data proved him wrong.
To many people unfamiliar with physics, the result of this experiment is counter intuitive. This is not unusual in science and theoretical predictions, along with experimental results, often challenge us in this manner.
Other examples include the relativistic predictions of Einstein and the indeterminacy inherent in quantum mechanics.
For instance, Einstein’s prediction that, close to the speed of light, mass increases, size decreases and time slows down, have been empirically verified. The indeterminacy principle, poorly named by Heisenberg as the uncertainty principle, illustrates the interaction that occurs between what we attempt to measure and the tools we use.
Quantum mechanics is an entirely deterministic theory, but the “uncertainty” notion has been hijacked by a range of new-age gurus as an “explanatory” tool for all kinds of mystical phenomena and would be better abandoned entirely as a label.
While such apparent contradictions surprise and engage us, there are other theoretical and experimental phenomena that result in a response that might be better described as an existential shudder. In these latter cases our concepts of our selves and our fundamental beliefs may be challenged or, indeed, threatened.
Reverting to Galileo, his astronomical observations and interpretations confirmed the Copernican world view in which the sun, not the earth, lay at the centre of the solar system. This startled and disturbed many people who at the time regarded mankind as the epitome of divine creation and so at the centre of things in the literal as well as metaphorical sense.
Another great challenge came in the shape of the theory of evolution, proposed independently by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace. This conceptual bombshell considered the origins of life itself and placed our species alongside all others within a chain of development leading back to a common ancestor.
The societal consequences of evolutionary theory reverberate strongly to the present day and evolutionists and creationists continue to do battle with significant implications for science education depending on which group holds sway.
In 1953, in the Cavendish laboratories of Cambridge, Francis Crick and James Watson cracked the structure and the code entailed in DNA that held the secret as to how genes replicate and control the biological processes of all living things. Crick is reputed to have run into the Eagle Pub, which is close to the old Cavendish site, announcing that he and Watson had discovered the “secret of life”.
This was something of an exaggeration but it did have significant implications for our concept of what might constitute “life”. It may well be no more than an emergent property of the chemicals from which our bodies are constructed. Prior vitalistic notions could now be reasonably abandoned.
Accommodating the philosophical implications of such discoveries as those outlined above posed a difficult challenge for many people. For example, the various creation myths contained in many religious texts could no longer be taken as factual. They must be seen as metaphorical stories, or the findings of science must be denied, or extensive justifications must be invented as attempts are made to accept both positions simultaneously.
Stephen Jay Gould made a valiant if misguided attempt to resolve the science/religion divide in his book Rocks of Agesin which he spoke of religion and science as non-overlapping magisteria in which science is concerned with the material world and religion is concerned with morals and ethics. Many scientists and philosophers would reject this artificial dichotomy.
Our confidence in ourselves as competent, independent, moral beings has been challenged by a number of experiments in psychology. We are now aware of the ease with which our senses are fooled by a variety of visual and auditory illusions. Our memories do not constitute accurate recordings of experiences. They are constructed and reconstructed over time and false memories are easily instilled under a range of conditions.
Stanley Milgram, in his experiments on obedience to authority at Yale University in the early 1960s, demonstrated that we are capable of administering dangerous levels of electric shock to fellow humans with just a little pressure from a person in authority (no real shocks were inflicted but the subjects following instructions were not aware of this). His results have been replicated in many societies and predictions by psychiatrists as to the outcome of his experiments vastly underestimated the lengths to which normal individuals would go in inflicting pain under instruction.
Philip Zimbardo, in his prison experiment at Stanford University in 1971, demonstrated how simple assignment to roles resulted in a collapse of social relationships and a descent into abuse and cruelty when participants were designated the positions of warder or prisoner. His results have also been systematically replicated.
Following his work on DNA Francis Crick moved on to study consciousness. The problem of consciousness and the so-called mind-brain problem dominates the work of many scientists and philosophers. Areas such as genetics, neurology and cognitive neuroscience converge fruitfully in this exciting arena. The answers to the questions appear still to be a long way off but the investigation process is intriguing.
The general consensus with regard to consciousness is that it is an emergent property of our anatomy and physiology. There is no magic involved. This is another area in which our existential cages are likely to be severely rattled.
Paul O’Donoghue is a clinical psychologist and founder member of the Irish Skeptics Society: contact@irishskeptics.org.