Zooman Science

2010.04.04   prev     next

Regardless of what you think about the nature of our universe and how we got here on this planet — if you’re a scientific, reasonable person, you should be able to consider hypotheticals, right? You should be willing, for the sake of the discussion, to entertain hypothetical scenarios about other universes, and then answer whatever interesting questions there might be about those hypothetical universes, right? OK, here goes.

Universe Z

Let’s suppose, hypothetically that there are other universes, similar to our own in many ways, but different in others. And one of these other universes, which we’ll call Universe Z, hypothetically was made by some entities that have the ability to synthesize a universe of their own, preferred specifications.

These entities made Universe Z to have physical laws that would allow complex life to flourish — if such life exists. However, the laws they chose do not permit Darwinian evolution to occur — evolution just doesn’t work under these laws. It doesn’t work for the biological plans that are possible under these laws. Maybe the entities did this because they didn’t want life to be evolving all over the place in Universe Z; they wanted to pick and choose where life would start, and what types of life there would be. Or maybe these particular entities didn’t know how to make laws that would support the Darwinian evolution of life.

Universe Z starts with a Big Bang, very much like our own, and coalesces over time into stars, a rich set of elements, galaxies, and planetary systems. However, none of these planetary systems are quite suitable for complex life. So the entities pick a planetary system that, with a little tweaking, will become suitable for life, and they perform that tweaking. Then, when the target planet is at the right state, the entities make life there, and it thrives. Over time, the entities create many different types of life, in a process of experimentation, and of learning which designs work well, and which don’t.

Zoomans

Eventually, the entities create their masterpiece: A highly intelligent species, physically and mentally capable of developing the technology required to travel throughout Universe Z and occupy many of its planets. The entities name this species “Zoomans.” Zoomans, although significantly different in body plan from the humans of our universe, are every bit as intelligent as we are, and every bit as capable (with time) of studying and deciphering the mysteries of Universe Z, as we are of our universe.

The entities do not communicate with the Zoomans at all; they merely monitor Zooman progress. Early in their societal history, the Zoomans make up various religions, which are adhered to by large numbers of Zoomans.

Science

But eventually, as we humans did, the Zoomans improve their tools and techniques, and discover the scientific method. Soon after that, the scientific members of the Zooman race come to reject all major religions, and begin to apply their science to the deep questions, “Where did we Zoomans come from?,” and, “How did life come to exist on our planet Zerth?”

Now the zillion-dollar question: Would the Zoomans, using the same scientific method we use here in our universe, be able to correctly decipher the salient facts about their origins, as described in the above paragraphs?

Or would the scientific method make it impossible for them to discover the truths of their origins? And if it did, would they be left with unanswerables, or would they come to firm, scientific convictions that were actually wrong? What might those convictions be?

And if the scientific method did accurately reveal to the Zoomans the truths of their origins and the nature of Universe Z — how would it do so? What sorts of scientific studies and scientifically gathered data would point the Zoomans in the right directions, to reach the correct conclusions?