Theory of Vanity

Theory of Vanity by Ashton Hummler



Out of all the scientific discoveries, theories, and inventions that have changed the world for the better, string theory takes the cake as the apex of vanity. There have been brilliant minds consumed with vanity next to some of the greatest discoveries known to man. Thomas Edison is known to have stolen many brilliant ideas for himself. Steve Jobs was notoriously extremely ruthless and manipulative when it came to his business decisions to turn a profit. Watson and Crick may have never discovered the double helix if it weren’t for Rosalind Franklin. Her discoveries and data were crucial, but since she was in opposition with Watson and Crick, (and possibly due to her being a woman) she wasn’t given proper credit until after her death. Vanity and science are no strangers to each other, and when it comes to an unfalsifiable, untestable, and undemonstrated theory of absolute universal truth, there is nothing more vain than pursuing it. 

I listened to Michio Kaku talk about string theory in a youtube video. He said that with string theory, we could unlock the secrets of the Big Bang. He said, “Einstein’s equations break down at the instant of the Big Bang, and the center of a Black Hole,” and that we need a “higher theory” to take us BEFORE the Big Bang. No offense to Michio Kaku and his work, but will information about those subjects even be worth discovering? How will knowing what happened BEFORE the Big Bang help humanity at all? Figuring it out is barely useful for us, unless we’re trying to emulate a Big Bang and make new universes, and we haven’t even placed a human outside our own solar system, let alone another planet in it. In this same video, Michio Kaku goes on to explain that with Einstein’s model, we are like insects on a soap bubble. That we are stuck in place on the bubble as the bubble expands slowly forever, unable to escape it. He then says that String Theory says that there are multiple bubbles floating around in a multiverse of bubbles. “When two universes collide, it can form another universe. When a universe splits in half, it can create two universes, and that we think is the Big Bang.” Again, no disrespect to Michio Kaku, he is a lovely man, and the ideas by themselves sound so grandiose and sublime. The only issue is that there’s no way of testing it, and all the math of Quantum Mechanics leaves things “up in the air” by only showing possibilities of what could happen. Searching for these truths and ideas are a vain endeavor. It makes me start to question whether these scientists that still want to solve String Theory have other motives than just the pursuit of truth. Could any of them be in it just for the glory of solving “everything?”

Now Micho Kaku does go on to say that String Theory could help us discover how to use wormholes. So clearly, all my talk about vanity and futility was just me blowing smoke. Michio Kaku explains that since String Theory is a theory of everything, it’s also a theory of time. This means wormholes could be used not only to travel instantaneously through space, but also instantaneously through time. Time machines are allowed in Einstein’s equations, so theoretically, String Theory may be the key to time travel. Theoretically, that is true, however, there are several issues with wormholes. Besides the reality bending consequences that are possible due to time travel, physicists have reached no consensus if wormholes are even safe for humans to pass all the way through. It would also require an enormous amount of energy, an amount that is incomprehensibly large, that could probably power all of human activity for thousands of generations. We could also use the wormholes, which we don’t even know are safe, to travel to another universe. Michio Kaku says we could use this to escape the inevitable heat death of the universe trillions of years from now. However, I think we have a more pressing issue to worry about, and that is our own sun expanding and swallowing our planet whole. So maybe we should cross the heat death bridge when we get to it. 

I realize that Michio Kaku couldn’t catch a break today, but he’s by no means a bad person or bad scientist. There are worse physicists out there, I mean Schrödinger was a literal pedophile yet his cat idea is groundbreaking. The video I referenced came out 9 years ago, and to my knowledge, everything he says still holds up to this day. If anything, Kaku deserves MORE respect and recognition for making a great video that is still well informed and relevant, as well as for just being a great physicist. 

Whether the endeavor is out of pride, or a simple search for the truth, the theory of everything is the theory of vanity. Science is ultimately a study of luxury, and there are people in this world struggling out there to survive who have never even learned what the Big Bang even is. There are a lot of more pressing issues on our world right now, and I think trying to solve the most mysterious and niche mysteries of reality can wait until we solve the problems on our own planet first. 



Work Cited:


Video Referenced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ5dj-Ozwm0


“Dr. Rosalind Franklin.” Rosalind Franklin University, https://www.rosalindfranklin.edu/about/facts-figures/dr-rosalind-franklin/#:~:text=Our%20university%20was%20dedicated%20in,down%20from%20generation%20to%20generation. 


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