Origins 22(1):43-46 (1995).
LITERATURE REVIEW
DREAMS OF A FINAL THEORY. Steven Weinberg. 1992. NY: Pantheon Books. 334 p. Cloth, $25.00.
Steven Weinberg shared the 1979 Nobel Prize for Physics with Sheldon
Glashow and Abdus Salam "for their contributions to the theory of the unified weak
and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles." This book describes
the hope of Albert Einstein in his later years, of Weinberg, and of physics in general, to
unify all of the forces of nature — gravitational, weak, electromagnetic, and strong
— into one final theory (ch 10) that will provide a complete and beautiful (chs 5 and
6) basic understanding of the natural world. Although he states on p 5 that this "is
not a book about the Super Collider" (i.e., the Superconducting Super Collider, or
SSC), Weinberg devotes the final chapter (12) to the SSC, stating that "without it we
may not be able to continue with the great intellectual adventure of discovering the final
laws of nature" (p 274). Chapter 8 describes the current lull in the advance of
physics that he hoped the SSC would overcome. Considering that Weinberg actively
participated in planning the SSC until it was scrapped in 1993, it is not surprising that
he takes several opportunities to justify building the multi-billion dollar accelerator.
Chapter 1 notes that "by the 1890s an odd sense of completion had
spread to many scientists" (p 13), but this was a misguided perception considering
the major revolutions in physics of this century. Lest the author be accused of hoping for
that same kind of complete theory, he states that a final theory would "be final in
only one sense — it will bring to an end a certain sort of science, the ancient
search for those principles that cannot be explained in terms of deeper principles"
(p 18).
Some of the physics details of the book are reviewed elsewhere (Wilczek
1993; Smith 1993); here some of the philosophical implications will particularly be
addressed. Chapter 2 gives examples from physics, chemistry, biology, and astrophysics of
the many scientific "arrows of explanation" that eventually converge to the four
basic forces. Combining these four forces into one grand unified theory would provide the
one final answer to all questions. Of course in practice, the theory would have the usual
limitation for complex systems (such as the weather or living organisms) that slight
inaccuracies in knowing the initial conditions result in total loss of predictive power
over time. He concludes the chapter by saying:
... our discovery of the connected and convergent pattern of scientific explanations has done the very great service of teaching us that there is no room in nature for astrology or telekinesis or creationism or other superstitions (p 50).
Other authors have suggested that a totally naturalistic world view
is insufficient to explain all of the observed data from cosmology, quantum mechanics,
complex systems, the conscious mind, and coincidences in the fundamental constants (e.g.,
Davies 1983; Gribbin & Rees 1989; Squires 1990; Pearcey & Thaxton 1994). However,
Weinberg believes that a final theory will need only naturalistic components. Chapter 3
gives "two cheers for reductionism," argues that there are no fundamentally new
laws for complex systems, and decries holism as the "nuttiest extreme" (p 53).
Chapter 4 finds no "messages for human life in quantum mechanics that are different
in any important way from those of Newtonian physics" (p 78). Probabilistic
interpretations do not do away with determinism or make room for human free will and
divine intervention. Chapter 9 mentions that the constants of nature presently appear to
be well suited for the existence of life only by coincidence, with the dubious anthropic
principle as their only explanation: what we can expect to observe must be restricted by
the conditions necessary for our presence as observers. However, Weinberg believes that a
final theory, perhaps some kind of string theory, would be able to prescribe values for
all these constants of nature without any surprising coincidences, although he recognizes
that a cosmological constant of exactly zero to 120 decimal places may still require some
kind of anthropic principle for explanation. Finally, he says "it is consciousness
that presents us with the greatest difficulty," but even there it "is not
unreasonable to hope that ... we shall be able to recognize something, some physical system
for processing information, that corresponds to our experience of consciousness
itself" (p 44-45).
Chapter 7 finds no use for philosophy in arriving at the final physical
principles, and Chapter 11, entitled "What About God?", finds no place for
theology either. Weinberg says that "the only way that any sort of science can
proceed is to assume that there is no divine intervention" (p 247). As such
"there is an incompatibility between the naturalistic theory of evolution and
religion as generally understood" (p 248). The incompatibility is not one of logic,
but of temperament. Religion didn't arise to answer questions about first causes,
"but in the hearts of those who longed for the continual intervention of an
interested God" (p 248). If no conflict is seen, "the retreat of religion from
the ground occupied by science is nearly complete" (p 250). To try to resolve the
conflict by having science treat factual reality, while religion treats human morality
doesn't work. Weinberg goes on to state that religion as defined by the great majority of
believers definitely has something to do with factual reality (p 249).
Weinberg would like to believe in a designer, but that designer would
also have to be responsible for suffering and evil (p 250). He would like to find evidence
in nature of a concerned creator, but finds "sadness in doubting that we will"
(p 256). He does not think "that science will ever provide the consolations that have
been offered by religion in facing death" (p 260). Religion provides meaning and
hope, but for those very reasons it seems "indelibly marked with the stamp of wishful
thinking" (p 255).
To respond, science has done well at mechanistically explaining the
natural world, with a steadily diminishing need to invoke a god-of-the-gaps until its use
has fallen into disrepute. But it has left humanity with a clockwork universe that
provides nothing for the human spirit. Woe is the church if it provides no more than
science for the basic needs of the human soul, if it provides only rules, creeds,
doctrines, and rites, if it doesn't provide the concern of a friend or of a personal God
who cares. The evil in the world can be explained philosophically by a God who made
creatures with free will so they could love, but when evil directly affects a person's
life, the only answer comes from a friend who can empathize, or a personal God who
understands. A purpose in life requires the personal touch, making a difference in someone
else's life. Weinberg feels that personal need, but unfortunately does not see the
solution in religion.
Finally, Weinberg finds fundamentalists and other religious
conservatives in one sense closer in spirit to scientists than religious liberals.
Conservatives believe in what they believe because they think it is objectively true,
whereas liberals "think that different people can believe in different mutually
exclusive things without any of them being wrong, as long as their beliefs work for
them" (p 257). However, "it is conservative dogmatic religion that does the
harm" with "the long cruel story of crusade and jihad and inquisition and
pogrom." Weinberg would like to strike a balance between the contributions of
religion and its problems, but in so doing "it is not safe to assume that religious
persecution and holy wars are perversions of true religion" (p 258).
These comments should be of concern for any group that feels it has a
corner on truth, whether scientific or religious. Even objective truth can be viewed from
many different perspectives with each individual attaching different relative significance
to different aspects. Thus the fact of objective truth gives no license for one group to
force its perception of that truth on others.
Weinberg does a good job of making a case for the beauty and power of
naturalistic science. He catches the reader's imagination as he describes the hope for a
final theory. Unfortunately, he pictures a totally naturalist theory with no place for
God. Arguments are often on his side; the changed life of someone touched by the Person of
God is not.
LITERATURE CITED
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