The Theory of Terror – Management.

During the past couple of days, we’ve covered the subjects of the components of light; the Big Bang is time real, the shape of the universe, seeing the past, finding the edge of the universe, and the probability that everything has already happened.

These info pods will not qualify any of us for admission to Oxford, but they will allow us basic, fundamental knowledge to build upon and grow. It’s been my experience that by learning bits and pieces of the laws of physics, we avoid walking around knowing nothing. I’ve tried to remedy these shortcomings, and here are some tidbits of knowledge.

The next step in this physics endeavor would be looking beyond the known four dimensions of space-time and exploring the subject of the ten dimensions of the universe, the loop theory, and the theory of all. I decided to stop here because these are pseudoscience areas that have not been mathematically proven, in spite of 50 years of scientists’ trying to. I chose to remain within scientific facts, even if they did not please me.

An article published in Smithsonian Magazine titled ” Death, Physics and Wishful Thinking,” written by John Horgan on Sept. 22, 1921, states the following:

Fear of mortality might underlie physicists’ fondness for the anthropic principle, multi universes, super determination, and other shaky ideas.

He continues: Our quirky minds thwart psychologists’ efforts to find durable theories. But the terror-management theory has held up quite well since psychologists’ proposed it more than 30 years ago. It holds that fear of death underpins many of our actions and convictions. We cling to our beliefs more when reminded of our mortality, especially if these beliefs connect us to something transcending our puny mortal selves.

Terror-management theory can account for puzzling political trends…

Physicists pride themselves on rationality, yet they are prone to existential dread as the rest of us, if not more so. Their investigations face them to confront infinity and eternity in their day jobs, not just the dread of night. …

Steven Weinberg, arguably the greatest physicist of the last half-century, urged us to accept the soul-crushing implications of physics, and he rejected attempts to turn it into a substitute for religion. ( end of excerpts from Smithsonian article)

As students, we are taught many things. We learn some and let go of some. I was taught that research required that I check my personal bias. During this excursion into the basic laws of physics, when I discovered that everything that was going to happen already prompted my own existential drama fulfilling the theory of terror-management prediction.

Various articles about the String Theory offered me relief from the harsh reality that my mind desperately wanted. Then I realized that none of these theories could be proven, even though they have been researched for the past 50 years. They are speculation. They are not yet hard-core science. They are scientists’ response to their personal terror management.

We urge you to embrace the science and conquer your terror management. I have.

Thanks for reading.