In some cases, we have built devices to detect such things as radioactivity, or infrared light. In other cases, we have built devices to pick up and decode signals that we as human beings have produced. The air all around you and I is filled with music, but it may take a radio receiver to experience it. Without a radio, and without knowledge of radios, you might well be skeptical of such a claim to pervasive music.
We perceive beauty in the universe, but are we detecting something that is inherent in it, or are we in fact creating beauty through our perception?
If the former, then there is nothing inappropriate about envisaging an artistry behind the universe.
If the latter, then that places us in an interesting situation. If we ask, “What is the meaning of the universe?” we may well have to answer that we are the ones who bring meaning into it. who bestow meaning upon it. If we ask what is the source of the universe’s beauty, then once more we may have to answer that we ourselves are the source, not of all that we perceive as beautiful, but of the very perception of beauty.
In the former case, we have the opportunity to explore and ponder ultimate questions. In the latter, we have a daunting responsibility as meaning-makers.
The two cases may differ significantly, but in both cases there is a lot more to be said and explored and pondered than simply analysis and evidence. In both cases there is an existential challenge that confronts us: if that is the way things are, what should we do about it, and how should we then live in light of our understanding of our place in the universe?
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