We might safely say that there is truth to science when its scientists know that certain causes lead to certain effects and are able to prove the relationship between definite causes and effects by way of public demonstration. A science that cannot predict events is a so-called science, not a true science at all in the modern sense of the term, and that much might be said of the social sciences having unpredictable humanity as their subject, “sciences” such as the psychological, sociological, political and economic, for such sciences are notorious for their inability to predict even great human events, much to the chagrin of their respective scientists.
On the other hand, what hard science has done for us is marvelous, but it deals with very small pieces of the great equation, and what it has accomplished on the whole may be undone in short order by natural disasters, among which we may count man-made disasters, for man is of nature and has his storms and upheavals as well. Social behavior is not merely complicated or difficult to figure out without with the help of supercomputers: it is incredibly complex; wherefore it is as impossible to predict, for example, when relative peace will be punctuated by world war as it is to predict when an gigantic earthquake will occur; yet we know for sure that wars and earthquakes are somehow bound to occur sooner or later, and that certain known and unknown factors, social and natural, are to blame, therefore our investigations into the myriad causes continue.
At the very least, we may collect data and calculate the probabilities while preparing for the worst and taking advantage of the best – there are booms as well as busts. Still, the calamity catches society unawares, despite the prophecies of doom attributed to the lord of wrath. Let the pessimists be self-damned; we cannot thrive and live easily with the naked threat of impending doom always in mind; therefore we put on a brave face and walk with confident pace through the valley of death; we shall all die one day anyway, so why not make the most of it in the meantime?
Our faces and worldviews constitute denials of death; ironically, our limiting perspectives may cause many of our violent disturbances; but we cannot live without them, so they are not wholly to blame. The relatively lengthy peaceful interludes between punctuations lulls the most of us into a false sense of security, and then improbable hell may break loose over a short period of time.
Just to exaggerate: the world financial system unexpectedly collapses under the weight of what were thought to be sound investments; nuclear devices are simultaneously detonated by worldview-fanatics in several major cities, and missiles with nuclear warheads are fired in blind retaliation by legitimately organized terrorists on those countries believed to harbor illegitimately organized terrorists, those who do not have a recognized state nor a proper uniform; earthquakes from Japan to California destroy twenty-three cities, killing untold millions of people, and the resulting tsunami kills hundreds of thousands more; to top things off, a meteor the size of half a football field falls on Chicago, not to mention the eruption of several volcanoes on three continents.
Only god knows when any or all of the foregoing foretold shall happen. The scientist does not know and will probably never know. The rest of us, no matter how well-educated, are left with our hunches. Life must go on, and it must be tolerable at least, so we, as it is said of Israeli youth hanging out in Tel Aviv cafes, live in a bubble.
