Discover He
We live in exciting times. We have the James Webb Space Telescope in orbit around the Earth, taking images from deep space and revealing secrets about the universe. Scientific minds are delving deeper into how all that exists came to be. The development of Artificial Intelligence has opened the door to a future previously unconceived. What a time to live!
But is all this so new? Are the revealing of secrets or the designing of faster and more complex machines really the new horizons we consider them to be? Is there really any true discovery?
I do not want to offend Trekkies out there, but I wonder if discovery exists in this universe. Sure, we learn new stuff every day about the planet we live on and the space surrounding it. But does learning something about the created universe amount to discovery?
Discovery is defined as the act or process of seeing, finding, or gaining knowledge of something previously unknown. For discovery to occur, there must be something previously unknown and a being to take action in seeing, finding, or gaining knowledge. Knowledge is defined as the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained from experience or association. Discovery is made when a previously unknown thing connects with the being who gains knowledge through familiarity.
Consider the Internet. Man has created a repository of all the understanding made in the modern age. We have history, math, physics, medicine and psychology, philosophy, the arts, etc., all condensed onto a network of computer systems that may be considered a digital brain. This is the understanding of humankind in a searchable medium. Now, we are creating a searcher who can comb that data at speeds we humans have only dreamed of using - artificial intelligence (AI). But if AI is just combing through what humans have already learned, is it really discovering anything?
You cannot discover anything on the Internet. You can certainly learn new things. You can become knowledgeable about something that you previously did not know. But true discovery is not present on the Internet. How about in medicine? This seems to be an area of great discovery. For instance, how about the "discovery" of DNA and the Watson and Crick double helix model. Was that really a discovery?
We discuss "discoveries" in every area of life and every field of study. We have "discoveries" in outer space and in the depths of the oceans. If we call all of these discoveries, I would put forth one of the most significant discoveries: the Krispy Kreme donut! But, alas, none of them are actual discoveries.
For all heaven and Earth are, there is a Designer, One who knows what was/is made and how it was/is made. There is indeed, as King Solomon stated, "nothing new under the sun." But don't be sorrowful, fair explorer and brave pioneer. Knowledge is a grand endeavor. Learning what God knows is worth all your effort to accomplish it. And even if you accomplish full knowledge, there remains a discovery to be made - the immenseness of God's love for you!