Why Can't We See God - A scientific explanation
Frank Lee Easter, 2005
Physicists have discovered the mechanism that prevents us from seeing the Kingdom of God by electromagnetic waves.
When I was a graduate student majoring in physics, I was an atheist. To me, God was a product of ignorance, due to lack of scientific knowledge. If people understood natural laws as well as physicists, they would not believe the existence of God. At that time, I did not know that most great physicists were God's believers, such as Newton, Kepler, Planck, Heisenberg and Einstein.
Ten years after I received a Ph.D in physics, I became a Christian - not because I found any hard scientific evidence about God. Like most believers, I felt that there must be a God who had been guiding me, otherwise some events that had happened to me would not be so coincidental.
The existence of God was so real that I had been wondering: where could God be? why couldn't we see Him? how come modern technology could not detect God? Since I was trained in physics, I believed that all natural phenomena should have a physical explanation. If God really exists, these questions can be answered in terms of physical laws. However, I did not know where or how to find the scientific answer. It might be impossible to know the answer at all.
In 2000, almost ten years after I became a Christian, I happened to read an article about string theory. My specialty was in biophysics, not in theoretical physics, but I had great interest in our universe - especially new concepts. The string theory just offered a completely new concept about our universe. After I read that article, I was thrilled. This must be it! God must be there! He could be only a centimeter away from us without being detected. Physicists have discovered the mechanism that prevents us from seeing the Kingdom of God!
The string theory has been developed for several decades, with a goal to become "the theory of everything", that is, to unify all four fundamental forces - gravitation, electromagnetism, strong and weak nuclear forces. A revolutionary discovery of the theory is that the whole universe should have ten dimensions of space, instead of three dimensions (length, width and height) that we used to think. Then, why do we see only three dimensions? In the earlier version of the string theory, it was assumed that those extra dimensions were too small to be observed. Thus, the whole universe is essentially the same as the 3D world. If this were true, there would be no place for God. Fortunately, a few years before 2000, researchers began to realize that those extra dimensions could be as large as the ordinary three dimensions. The reason why we cannot see extra dimensions is because our 3D world is a sub-universe called "braneworld", which confines all matter and electromagnetic waves (photons). It is impossible for photons to escape our 3D braneworld.
The electromagnetic waves (radio waves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, and X-ray) are the major means we use to see or detect things. Since the electromagnetic waves are confined in our braneworld, this immediately explains why we cannot detect God if He lives outside of our braneworld. The relationship between our braneworld (3D) and the whole universe (10D) is like a flat TV screen (2D) in our house (3D). Suppose there are some kind of creatures confined on the TV screen and the "light" they use to see is also confined on the TV screen, then they cannot see us even if we are only a centimeter away from the TV screen. Similarly, if God lives outside of our braneworld, we cannot see Him even if He is only a centimeter away from our braneworld.
Last updated: October, 2010.
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This falls at the first fence.
"At that time, I did not know that most great physicists were God's believers, such as Newton, Kepler, Planck, Heisenberg and Einstein...."
Einstein, although a secular Jew, did not believe in any personal God. Instead, he wrote, “I believe in Spinoza’s god, who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a god who concerns himself with the fate and the doings of mankind.” In other words, "God" was a personification of the laws of the universe, not some Daddy in the sky.
If you don't understand this, you're just another one of the theists who are constantly trying to add atheists posthumously to the ranks of believers. Sorry; you can't have Albert.
Paul4747
Level 8
Sep 16, 2020
3
Unconvincing. So string theory allows for the existence of other dimensions and god might be hiding in one of those dimensions that we can't see. OK, yeah, that AN explanation but not proof. Maybe Bigfoot is hiding in the other dimension, too. There is actually more evidence for Bigfoot than there is for God.
piphirho
Level 7
Sep 16, 2020
2
And then one day we have the science and understanding to detect what is now undetectable and when God still isn't there then people will find another gap in our knowledge to hide God.
bragadm
Level 5
Sep 15, 2020
2
That's about the size of it.
The God of the Bible cannot exist. The phrase "the Kingdom of God" is a nonsense thereby. To call that piece "a scientific explanation" is absurd. It is at best a wild and unsupported conjecture.
anglophone
Level 9
Sep 15, 2020
2
Interestingly, a friend and I were having this discussion just today....the fear of randomness gave rise to religion. Now..since humanity created a big pal in the sky, humanity also needs to ''cloak'' our big pal, just to keep it mysterious and even more majestic.
LucyLoohoo
Level 9
Sep 15, 2020
2
Maybe, just maybe, this God which you seem to be proclaiming here exists but is undetectable simply because he/she/it has undergone a 'Star Trek style 'Phase Shift' OR merely IS totally undetectable simply because he/she/it DOES NOT actually exist at all and NEVER has.
Btw, the latter is a far better and far more logical explanation than the former and the positted explanation put forward by those Phsyicists.
Btw, IF I'm correct in what I think you are saying, i.e. "braneworld," the actual spelling would be Brain-world and emissions such electromagnetic waves and the like are NOT confined ONLY in our 'brain-world/' and thus only detectable by our brains, our brains operate using micro-electrical impulses traveling through the interconnecting links similar to how electricity travels from Power Stations to homes, etc, etc.
Logically, God is but a dream conceived in the minds of human kind, and can only be seen in such dreams WHEN the Dreamer is asleep and NOTHING contained in dreams is either real or tangible in any way, shape or form.
Triphid
Level 9
Sep 15, 2020
0
Maybe there are things in those other dimensions. Maybe it’s God!? Maybe there are unseen creepy crawlers all over your body, only visible with a microscope. Maybe it’s God!? Maybe it is I, the Lord thy God, speaking to you now. Maybe I’m God?! Bow before me.
AgeofReason
Level 5
Sep 15, 2020
1
Well there are literally billions of 'creepy-crawlies ' inhabiting every inch of your body both inside and outside, some beneficial, some benign and some neither beneficial nor benign, but like it or not they are there.
@Triphid absolutely correct! Being unseen does not make them divine.
And you (a self-proclaimed atheist) posted this here because????? Just curious....
LucyLoohoo
Level 9
Sep 15, 2020
3
Methinks someone, not you btw, has had a wee overdose of Woo-Woo too many.
@Triphid Thanks....
Individuals like the author of this piece perplex me. They speak like rational, educated, science-minded people but then they proclaim their love and faith in God -- a completely fanciful notion based on superstition and mythology. Then, like this guy,, will engage in all manner of intellectual acrobatics trying to apply a scientific explanation for all the nonsense religion claims to be true. Religious scientists need to separate their faith from their science. The two are not compatible.
It's like getting a PhD then using that to explain how Santa Claus is real.
Sgt_Spanky
Level 8
Sep 15, 2020
4
It's called "compartmentalised thinking". Francis S. Collins demonstrates this extremely well in his book "The Language of God".
This falls into the epic fail category.
Willow_Wisp
Level 8
Sep 15, 2020
3
Agreed.
That's some theory.
I'm really okay with remaining an atheist.
I've yet to see ANY credible and verifiable evidence which would make me change my mind.
Besides, even if any god existed, I'd be far more inclined to spit in it's eye for being such a monumental asshole.
Enjoy your day.
KKGator
Level 9
Sep 15, 2020
8
I’ll second that!!
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