Scientists have determined the mass of the largest things that could possibly exist in our universe. New results have placed an upper limit on the current size of black holes - and at fifty billion suns... now that's pretty damn big.
The Mystery of Existence
"The difference between what the most and the least learned people know is inexpressibly trivial in relation to that which is unknown."
Albert Einstein
Could universal laws be spelled out in such a way as to make everyone on Earth agree to them? No one can say, since fictional events are simply exercises in imagination…
"Looking to the sky, we see a shimmering, almighty being in descent, swathed in glory, poised to issue divine edicts throughout the world. We are beside ourselves. As the being imbues its spirit in our hearts, and displays feats of awesome power, people look at each other and say 'Damn it! The religious mystics were right all along! We must get in on this at all costs!' Given that nothing else has meaning, business and industry come to a grinding halt, and the world as we know it is no more."
Pending such a worldwide revelation, a holy person, who pretends to be in touch with the almighty being, will not have the last word. Someone with another revelation will come along, and propose something radically different.
Of senseless conflict and wasted resources, the quest for supernatural meaning has plagued humanity throughout the millennia. Given the number of traditions now established, we can only split into opposing camps, and continue our struggle for dominance.
"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."
Carl Sagan
Can we ever express the mechanics of the cosmos in a way that all people might come to terms with? We cannot.
Consider the many extraordinarily complex things in the universe - matter, space, energy and so on. The inconceivable number of atoms, and how they were pulled together over billions of years, forming molecules, galaxies, planets, and cells -this is not something the human mind can wrap itself around. To understand even the tiny island in space we call Earth is beyond its range. A mathematical physicist, such as Professor Edward Witten, would be needed to explain just a part of it. Surely, many more unknown features form the foundation of the universe, which cannot be even remotely approached by the greatest minds.
