Why You Can't See the Sun
It’s impossible for us to see the sun as it is (at least at our present level of development). You can only see it as it was 8 minutes ago. Why? Because that’s how long it takes information in the form of light to travel the distance between us and the sun. I find that really interesting: it’s impossible for us to see the sun as it is.
The problem, of course is that there is no way to know by simply looking up in the sky that what you are seeing is not really there. You are only seeing what used to be there (8 minutes ago). And that’s a big problem because the sun doesn’t ‘look’ 8 minutes old. In fact nothing about how it sits there (as plain as day) gives you any clue to what’s really going on. It’s something you can only figure out if you start asking questions.
Everything that passes through our eyes and into our minds requires interpretation. You have to qualify some of what you see – like when you look at the sun. You have to tell yourself that what you’re seeing is actually 8 minutes old because it doesn’t look 8 minutes old. You even have to learn to ignore some of what you see, like the way heat rising off pavement in the sun can ‘look’ like a pool of water. We call it a ‘mirage’. And again you are seeing something that isn’t really there.
At any rate, I think there’s a powerful lesson in this ‘problem with the look of the sun’. It can be easy for us to think something is obvious when it seems obvious. And what could be more obvious than looking up at the blazing ball of light in the sky and simply seeing what it is? You don’t have to speculate – just look. But it’s not so easy. It took thousands of years for us to figure out all kinds of things that we didn’t know we didn’t know – like ‘things’ about how light works, and how far away the sun is, and what that really means in terms of what we think we are ‘seeing’. And only then did we realize that what we are seeing is not really there.
In other words: because of what we didn’t know we didn’t know, we didn’t know what we were looking at. And what we’ve learned along the way that has changed how we think about what we think we are seeing. It’s not always easy to see what is really there – even when you’re looking right at it.
I often think of all this when it comes to the ‘problem’ of God (as in ‘how could there be a God in a world like this?’). We could say we are only looking around us to ‘see’ what is really there – and what we ‘see’ is a universe that made itself. Perhaps it seems as obvious as simply looking up at the sun. And that’s that problem: it’s not always easy to see what is really there – even when you’re looking right at it.
Last Sunday we poked and prodded the question ‘what makes a great life possible?’. We also touched on issues of identity along the way (‘who am I and what do I need?). This Sunday, I’d like to move into the problem of God (as in ‘who is He?’). Join us for coffee and a live talk on Sunday or tune into the podcast through the week. All summer long we’re providing discussion guides that you can download with the podcast or from our website so that it can become more than just something you listen to.
Have a great weekend,
Chris
The problem, of course is that there is no way to know by simply looking up in the sky that what you are seeing is not really there. You are only seeing what used to be there (8 minutes ago). And that’s a big problem because the sun doesn’t ‘look’ 8 minutes old. In fact nothing about how it sits there (as plain as day) gives you any clue to what’s really going on. It’s something you can only figure out if you start asking questions.
Everything that passes through our eyes and into our minds requires interpretation. You have to qualify some of what you see – like when you look at the sun. You have to tell yourself that what you’re seeing is actually 8 minutes old because it doesn’t look 8 minutes old. You even have to learn to ignore some of what you see, like the way heat rising off pavement in the sun can ‘look’ like a pool of water. We call it a ‘mirage’. And again you are seeing something that isn’t really there.
At any rate, I think there’s a powerful lesson in this ‘problem with the look of the sun’. It can be easy for us to think something is obvious when it seems obvious. And what could be more obvious than looking up at the blazing ball of light in the sky and simply seeing what it is? You don’t have to speculate – just look. But it’s not so easy. It took thousands of years for us to figure out all kinds of things that we didn’t know we didn’t know – like ‘things’ about how light works, and how far away the sun is, and what that really means in terms of what we think we are ‘seeing’. And only then did we realize that what we are seeing is not really there.
In other words: because of what we didn’t know we didn’t know, we didn’t know what we were looking at. And what we’ve learned along the way that has changed how we think about what we think we are seeing. It’s not always easy to see what is really there – even when you’re looking right at it.
I often think of all this when it comes to the ‘problem’ of God (as in ‘how could there be a God in a world like this?’). We could say we are only looking around us to ‘see’ what is really there – and what we ‘see’ is a universe that made itself. Perhaps it seems as obvious as simply looking up at the sun. And that’s that problem: it’s not always easy to see what is really there – even when you’re looking right at it.
Last Sunday we poked and prodded the question ‘what makes a great life possible?’. We also touched on issues of identity along the way (‘who am I and what do I need?). This Sunday, I’d like to move into the problem of God (as in ‘who is He?’). Join us for coffee and a live talk on Sunday or tune into the podcast through the week. All summer long we’re providing discussion guides that you can download with the podcast or from our website so that it can become more than just something you listen to.
Have a great weekend,
Chris
posted by DSW at
12:35 PM
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