Strings

I left here today with my mind spinning and I was definitely convinced it felt that way because, there were indeed, an additional seven dimensions whirling around inside my brain; so tightly wound that no one even knows they exist!

Brian Greene was the speaker at today's forum and I attended for the sheer fact that I would get "serendipity points" for biology. (I don't even know what the points account for, all I know is that my last test score was sub-par and I'm not ready to fork over my scholarship on a scantron). Greene's words coursed through me and sent my mind surging into a spiral of thought. I felt like my mouth was open and drooling the whole time. The ideas he was discussing made me sit in awe and wonder and all I could do was turn to OtherRoommate and say, "That is. So cool."

He talked about how two theories, Einstein's Theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics, before finally delving into the bulk of his lecture on The String Theory. There is a discrepancy between the former two that has charged a debate amongst scientific intellectuals since Quantum Mechanics started fueling the technology industry and the Theory of Relativity didn't work on a microscopic scale.

The hour was filled with more than that though. Tiny ah ha's! were occurring throughout the forum, randomly firing and emitting bursts of sudden clarity (and then quickly fading, leaving me to wonder). I had never before seen how gravity works, what the mechanics of the force that keeps everything in perfect balance are. But he showed a short clip and I, being the visual learner that I am, had a sudden epiphany as it all clicked into place. Of course!

But what I loved about the forum was that it challenged me to think, to consider, to expand. It confronted my assumptions and dared me to think beyond the sight of my own two hands.

The fact that the String Theory is called as such is a lure enough for me. Working on a series for half a year while exploring the binding and connecting powers of string (while using it as a metaphor for family) I came to hold a place in my heart for things a silly a strings. The real kicker is that within my heart, there are quite possibly, highly complex, geometric "strings" of sorts, which contain dimensions unknown to man. Crazy? It seems so, but for some reason I ate it up.

Greene compared the geometric forms to tiny vibrating strings, like those on a violin. When vibrating at one intensity, it produces, say, a C. Another intensity makes an A flat. In this same way, the tiny vibrating strings inside the most infinitesimal piece of our mortality produce different things, eventually comprising the vast amount of diversity we experience every day. Is there anything so beautiful than to think that the world is made up of music?! I thought it was not only poetic, but it struck a spiritual chord within me as well.

The whole discussion just resonated in me, the notions of parallel worlds don't seem foreign, I feel the presence of those beyond the veil and the influence of the Spirit. It seemed like science was finally getting closer to coinciding with the things I believe. I think that one day science and religion will become such that they will eventually collide in a beautiful harmony, an array of perfection and completeness that will just. make. sense.

Greene's lecture made me appreciate perspective. He started out on the scale of stars and galaxies and then shrunk down to particles so small they seem to just be a jittery, undulating form. It made me think of the perspective of Heavenly Father. He has the big picture, the stars and galaxies, yes, but even the jittery intimateness and the vastness in between as well. Scientists are finally starting to pull back, to realize that even though two theories might conflict, there may possibly be a way to reconcile the two, a way to bring both into and even clearer focus and take one more step towards a theory addressing the whole. Our Father is so far back, that he understands all the incomprehensible inbetween stuff that we, on our jittery scale, are constantly tousled and troubled by. He knows the links between it all and the way to make it clear. And we, with our limited perspective and constantly undulating lives are stuck wondering how it all fits together in the grand eternal plan. And so we are left with faith.

We are forced to practice using what we know; utilize an active faith--one steeped with productivity and accomplishment--not a flat-line, blind belief that leads us to insecurity and relying on others. This faith is what helps us see, helps us vibrate, helps us pull back our perspective and finally make connections between the big and the small in an attempt to reconcile ourselves to the Divine.