Everything in Science was once an unknown

There have been very interesting, sometimes even explosive, conversations amongst people over the past two years. It usually stemmed from a great misunderstanding wherein all parties felt their realities were being challenged and it generated cringe worthy dialogue. It has been very saddening to see the fractured friendships that often resulted.

Most often the topic involved science. Some find great comfort in scientific studies and findings, and perhaps they should. Yet, others step outside that zone and trek off into areas that science has either not yet investigated, abandoned, showed no interest in, or have recorded findings that were inconclusive or unfavorable. But what we fail to to remember is, that if not for those persistent minds that kept asking questions, that kept pushing forward because of personal convictions and a willingness to explore, we would have no scientific findings.

Can you imagine what the great scientific minds we revere today might once have been put through when their contributions were merely unproven hypothesis? That while they were forging ahead to find a quantifiable answer, others were perhaps mocking them or discrediting them? That their intelligence was called to question because they insisted on pursuing something that had no existing scientific foundation or basis to spring from?

Because truly, everything we have in science is merely something that was pursued until it was quantifiable, and therefore, could comfortably be embraced as reliable/provable facts we could depend on. But without those minds on the frontier that were willing to embrace and pursue the yet unknown, the yet unproven, we would not have our expanse of reliable science. It is only through the efforts of those persistent outlier's pursuits that things are brought into the realm of science.

It is both saddening and maddening that people automatically discard what makes them uncomfortable, without any effort to attempt understanding. Or to ask, "what if?" ....

"What if?" seems only to get asked when people have exhausted all other avenues. People confronted with terminal illnesses look to alternatives when conventional medicine finally tells them there is nothing more to be done. Sometimes, people triumph through personal research, trial and errors. And yet, many do not. But there is always the question -- "why?" Why, did something work for one person and not another? And that is the very thing that brings us into the realm of science. Studying data, looking for clues, differences, similarities. All stemmed by the questions, "What if?" and "Why?"

When I know someone that is willing to set out on a landscape to embrace things to find these answers, often on a very personal quest, I applaud them, because sometimes friends, science fails us. Why would I say that? Because the world doesn't stand still and what we knew yesterday may no longer be true today. There are still areas that remain uninvestigated, are incomplete, outdated and/ or need revisited -- seen by new eyes, evaluated by new minds, and utilizing new data or hypotheses. Without the people that explore and ask questions, science would never grow. We would never learn more than we already know.

So, I applaud those of you for taking on the unknown, for taking roads less traveled, and for sharing where your path has taken you. All will not follow you, but for those who would, please keep going, and keep sharing. Keep pursuing the unknown and bringring it into the realm of science.

*****

I felt compelled to write this story because we as a whole seem to find comfort in the four walls of a box. The defined/quantifiable provides reassurances. But should we let it rest there? Let's hope that while we enjoy the comforts of quantifiable science, that we not forget to question or thwart those that do. A late friend always told me, "Trust nothing. Question everything." I'm not afraid to trust, but I'm also not afraid to question.