"We Don't Know Why"

I've struggled with what to lead with on this very first blog post of mine.  I have a feeling that, just like my life at the current moment, this blog will take a while to fully coalesce into something.  I don't have any idea with what that something is, and I'm becoming more and more okay with not knowing.  There's a reason that "life is a journey" is such an over-used cliche.  

So, I've decided to start with two sentences.  "We don't know why.  That's what fascinates us."  Last Saturday, I attended my very first science conference.  Most of my artist friends are rolling their eyes right now, at least internally, but it was fascinating.  Fifty years ago, C.P. Show wrote a lecture called The Two Cultures (See my play on words there?  Oh, I'm good.) and he spoke about how science and the humanities are diverging.  The two groups don't interact, don't speak, in fact, many times can't even understand each other.  Fifty years later, this is still true.  Perhaps more true.  The conference was an attempt to bring the two closer together.

In my humble opinion, there was more talk about what was wrong with science and the humanities diverging and less talk about what could actually be done about fixing that.  But I blame that on the guerilla style of art that I'm so accustomed to.  You get out there, you figure out what needs doing, you figure out how to do it, and then you do it.  Those last two were oddly missing from the day.  

However (and here's where I get to my point), a number of compelling turns of phrase were thrown out there, one being, "We don't know why.  That's what fascinates us."  (This can be contributed to E.O. Wilson, that brilliant biologist obsessed with ants)  

We don't know why we are alive.  It comes down to that.  And we are fascinated by this idea of why.  We use religion to explain it.  We use science.  We use art.  We use war.  We use love.  We even use death.  

Now, I've just listed six things that seeks to answer "why".  You could list seventeen more without pausing.  But take a good look at my list.  Every one can be seen as an opposite of another.  Wars have been waged over religion.  Religion and science are locked in an epic battle of wills over evolution.  Artists and scientists want to have nothing to do with each other.  And death is the antithesis to even the question.

And yet, we're all after that same elusive answer.

I'm not going to end these posts with a "let's all get along" message, because I would have no idea how to even begin that process.  But if the question "Why are we alive?" fascinates you (and it should), take a moment and see if it can be answered from another perspective.  Even if you don't agree with it, I bet you can understand how someone else would.

I've found two cultures that resonate with me.  Art and science both makes so much sense to me that I can no longer see the divide.  Enter internet and the idea of reaching both cultures in one place, and voila!  My Two Cultures.