One set of possible answers to the six biggest questions was that everything is made of atoms, that we know this for certain because science has proved it, and that we ought to live by the Golden Rule. Let’s do some unpacking.
Is everything really made of atoms? Let’s leave aside contemporary physicists’ understanding of atoms and their components and instead think of atoms as the early Greeks first thought of them about 2,500 years ago. Atoms are tiny indivisible particles one finally winds up with if you keep cutting or breaking things up into their smallest possible pieces.
That everything is made of atoms seems reasonable when considering tables and chairs. It even sounds possible when thinking about flowers and dogs. It seems to be more difficult to believe when thinking about ourselves.
And what shall we say of stories, of language, of science itself? Are they made of atoms? Shall we say that thinking or friendship is made of atoms?
If there is some doubt about everything being made of atoms, then can science tell us for certain that everything is made of atoms? Contemporary physicists say that the visible parts of the universe are made of smallest things—no longer called atoms—and that what those smallest things are they don’t yet fully understand.
What about the Golden Rule? It has been expressed in many ways by many people including philosophers, priests and prophets. Basically it says we should treat others as we would want to be treated.
But if your favourite food is peanut butter and broccoli, would you make a point of serving it to everyone who comes to your place?
Or do we mean that the rule requires us to deal with people the way they want to be treated? If so, would you provide a would-be bank robber with the gun she needs to pull off the big heist? If not are we saying that the rule requires us to deal with people in the way we consider best for them, whether it’s what they want or not?
Maybe there are aspects of this set of answers that make sense—I think there are—but there certainly are issues. So next lets look at Doubt and Happiness.
