Christopher Search and The Creation Problem

Christopher Search is a Professor of Physics at Stevens Institute of Technology. He was interviewed on his views on certain aspects of physics and shared his strong opinions with the class. 


As a teenager, Christopher Search went through an atheist phase, where he rejected the presence of a divine being. However, in the present day, Search considers himself to be religious, claiming that “the atheist world is overly naive and simplistic.” This 180-degree shift in his views was due to his interest in The Creation Problem - how the world came to be - and the sciences. Search’s interest as well as his experiences while attending a school of technology, ignited his passion for the sciences - more specifically, physics - and he ultimately ended up as an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at Stevens Institute of Technology.


Many may believe that religion has no place in science, and can only result in clouded, biased views of the world. These views consider God as the explanation of the universe to simplify the complexities of reality. However, Search believes that religion does not compete with science, but instead motivates the desire for an ultimate explanation of the creation of the universe. For example, early physicists were driven by religion to understand God’s creation. Isaac Newton believed that God’s existence could not be denied. Likewise, Search states, “physics and religion are by no means mutually exclusive, they run parallel in that they are seeking different answers, although they strongly complement each other.”


When asked his opinions on whether the desire for an ultimate explanation would hinder discoveries now, Search had much to say. For example, he concludes that we [the human race] try our best to be rational and objective, however, since we are human we are subject to failures. Additionally, Search states, “preconceived notions hinder progress and can blind you from seeing that what you are doing is utter bullshit.” He furthers his point by relating this statement to string theory, which he has strong negative feelings toward. 


String theory is the attempt at explaining reality as “infinitesimal vibrating strings…which produce tiny dimensions that humans interpret as everything from particle physics to large-scale phenomena like gravity” (Wood et al). Even though string theory is an extremely supported theory by physicists it has not been proven, and thus Search has some opposing opinions. Search shares his belief that physicists, who use string theory as an explanation for reality, are using a cop-out. He highlights that string theory has been around for half a century and has yet to be proven. He states, “these physicists are pretending to do physics… the idea that you can explain the natural world through the beauty of mathematics without testing it in a lab is not physics.” 


Search believes that the technology needed to explain reality is not developed yet. However, science, physics, and technology as a whole have a symbiotic relationship. Thus, as more technologies are developed, more discoveries will be made in regard to the answer to The Creation Problem. 


Quotes are taken from HST 401 class on September 20, 2022. 


Michella Chiaramonte


Wood, Charlie, and Vicky Stein. “What Is String Theory?” Space.com, Space, 20 Jan. 2022, https://www.space.com/17594-string-theory.html. 

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