Western Scientific Perspectives :: essays research papers

Anthropology 122-1Western Scientific PerspectivesWalking on a clear night a person cant help only look up and see the stars. Each beautiful, illuminating the night sky along with the moon, far away yet close enough to admire and wonder. I sit sometimes outside and just look up and gaze in wonder at the stars, but the scientists in me thinks further. The stars are like our sun in the solar system, hydrogen balls, exploding, radiating energy and light in all directions yet we are so far that we see them as specks in the night sky. thence in that respect are those night where Venus and Mercury can be seen among the stars, almost a spiritual experience. Science has taught us that sedateness and other laws of nature control the movement of such celestial objects and control everyday happenings where most would not give it a second thought. In sprightliness we all seek the truth, the truths about the universe our surround. Some people seek the truth through what science tells us. The Big Bang Theory tells us that there was a massive explosion where concentrated matter is scattered all over what is the universe and over time the planets and other systems formed to their current states. Then some seek the truth through religion and God and so we have the story of Genesis from the Bible. Fritjof genus Capra, author of The Tao of Physics, was a high-energy physicist who conducted years of enquiry in his career and understood his surroundings as a physicist but through his learning the religious philosophies of Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism saw his surroundings are more than that. Capra saw a rhythm that surrounded everything. I saw cascades of energy coming down from outer space, in which particles were created and destroyed in rhythmic pulses I saw the atoms of the elements and those of my body participating in this cosmic dance of energy I felt its rhythm and I heard its sound, and at that arcsecond I knew that this was the Dance of Shiva, the Lord of Dancers wo rshipped by the Hindus. (Capra, 11)Ultimately Capra discovered for himself and argues is the view of the world explained through physics and the view given by philosophies such as Hindusim, Buddhism and Taoism are parallel to each other.According to Capra, knowledge can be divided into to parts, rational and intuitive. Everyday we learn, we gain knowledge of our surroundings and from our everyday happenings.