The Power of Mysteries

We had to read this for AP English and I really enjoyed it.

The Power of Mysteries

As heard on NPR’s Morning Edition, January 2, 2006.

I believe in the power of the unknown. I believe that a sense of the unknown propels us in all of our creative activities, from science to art.

When I was a child, after bedtime I would often get out of my bed in my pajamas, go to the window and stare at the stars. I had so many questions. How far away were those tiny points of light? Did space go on forever and ever, or was there some end to space, some giant edge? And if so, what lay beyond the edge?

Another of my childhood questions: Did time go on forever? I looked at pictures of my parents and grandparents and tried to imagine their parents, and so on, back through the generations, back and back through time. Looking out of my bedroom window into the vastness of space, time seemed to stretch forward and backward without end, engulfing me, engulfing my parents and great-grandparents, the entire history of earth. Does time go on forever? Or is there some beginning of time? And if so, what came before?

When I grew up, I became a professional astrophysicist. Although I never answered any of these questions, they continued to challenge me, to haunt me, to drive me in my scientific research, to cause me to live on tuna fish and no sleep for days at a time while I was obsessed with a science problem. These same questions, and questions like them, challenge and haunt the leading scientists of today.

Einstein once wrote that “the most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science.” What did Einstein mean by “the mysterious?” I don’t think he meant that science is full of unpredictable or unknowable or supernatural forces. I think that he meant a sense of awe, a sense that there are things larger than us, that we do not have all the answers at this moment. A sense that we can stand right at the boundary between known and unknown and gaze into that cavern and be exhilarated rather than frightened.

Scientists are happy, of course, when they find answers to questions. But scientists are also happy when they become stuck, when they discover interesting questions that they cannot answer. Because that is when their imaginations and creativity are set on fire. That is when the greatest progress occurs.

One of the Holy Grails in physics is to find the so-called “theory of everything,” the final theory that will encompass all the fundamental laws of nature. I, for one, hope that we never find that final theory. I hope that there are always things that we don’t know — about the physical world as well as about ourselves. I believe in the creative power of the unknown. I believe in the exhilaration of standing at the boundary between the known and the unknown. I believe in the unanswered questions of children.


Alan Lightman is an astrophysicist and novelist teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author ofEinstein’s Dreams and A Sense of the Mysterious: Science and the Human Spirit. Lightman and his wife, Jean, started the Harpswell Foundation to help disadvantaged students obtain education in Cambodia.

From This I Believe.

Printed. Spring Break.

Yeah so I got that Poster below printed and it looks pretty good! Now it’s spring break and I think I’m gonna just not do much and take a break. However I do have some homework. I’ll just do that later! I’ll probably go biking with Katie! Last time Katie, Bill, and I found a cool spot out in the woods.. we may go exploring again. I get super lazy when I start typing my life out so i’m done for today.. check out fullsail.com that is where I am going to college after Ole Miss.. I’ll be doing Web Design and Development! Can’t Wait!

I just made this in photoshop.. I am really thinking about getting it printed on like a big poster! That would be awesome!

People say I do this a lot..

Life so far..

So wow we did get first at Petal competitions! It was exciting but now Im just glad to have a break from singing and dancing :)  People have asked now that I don’t have wave connection practice what do I do with all this spare time.  Well I still have school and it just keeps getting more difficult! My worst classes I would have to say are Chemistry and Algebra 2.. I don’t even want to discuss grades. Exams are next week and that doesn’t help either! Maybe I’ll do amazing on all my exams and all my grades will magically rise!  I’ll just keep telling my self that.. ha  Anyway I’ve been working on some websites.. I keep hoping that I’ll make a popular website that will catch on and lead me to financial paradise. That may sound like a bad reason to want to want to achieve something, but I would really like to give back to my parents all the money I have used to make all my websites and experiments.  I guess I’m done here, I’ll go back to browsing the web for good ideas. text me if you think of one ;)

Show Chior Comp. Nashville

Yeah so I’m on the way home from the Nashville Show Shope competition and Wave Connection got 1st runner up and Sound Wave got 2nd in their division. But we have Petal comp. next week! Maybe we will get first there! Then showchior will be over for this year!

Crazy Music Video

Website host...

okay so I use Host Department, not even worth linking to, as my website host and I always have until i recently starting using Host Gator anyway my domain name rosswaycaster.com is with Host Department still, becuase I’m too lazy to transfer it and i don’t feel like paying… anyway So if you don’t really know about DNR or Domain stuff then let me kind of explain it.. Any and every domain is like a car.. You drive to an address that you want to go to, so like when you drive your car you know what Street address your going to, the domain also needs to know what address to go to this address is a set of numbers like “72.30.291.5” and just like your house that IP Address holds all your files and folders.. such as a webpage or video! Now the point of explaining all that is that to say that my Registrar (Host Department) has still not pointed to my tumblr ip address!! and its been 4 days! it usually only takes 72 hours at the most.. I’m just getting tired of waiting on Support Chat with them only for them to tell me that I just need to wait one more day.. :(

(sorry this was not cleanly written)

update: 2/17/09 6:40 pm.. finally got it fixed :)

About tumblr..

I just found tumblr.. I think it’s really neat and I like how it all works! That’s why I’ve decided to make it my new website! Now when you go to www.rosswaycaster.com it will show up as this site! how exciting :)  I can’t wait to see what all happens through this, it seems promising! I think its 20935802 times better that WordPress!

site im working on..