[Esoterica] An observation on science

We percieve the world about us through its interaction with our nervous system. Every perception is defined by duration, intensity, frequency and modality (or quality). It's the modality of perception that I find most interesting- it's one of the most complex features of sensation. Our sensory modalities are the ones you learned in kindergarten- visual, olfactory, auditory, somatosensory (pain, touch and balance), and taste. These modalities are highly specific and somewhat narrow in nature, however. The range of visible light is only a small fraction of the spectrum; our chemical perceptions (such as smell and taste) are limited; we can only accurately sense changes in temperature from about 5-45°C, and so on.

Most, if not all, of science is devoted to development of new or extended perceptive modalities. For example, we use instruments to observe things too small or too far away for vision and to quantitate energy at a molecular level. We enlarge normal cellular processes to a size and scope perceptible by our eyes; we make computers to listen to the noise of stars; we measure the magnetic properties of molecules to determine their structure and interactions. We constantly desire to know what we do not, and cannot, determine directly- we seek a deeper level of interaction through perception of the world around us. This is the drive of science.

But what then? If every modality was within our grasp, how would we use it? Will the day come when we have observed all? This, I think, is the eternal conflict of scientists: you must have unerring faith in your ability to detect something novel, to invent a modality to make an observation no one else has been able to percieve; you must also have absolute confidence that tomorrow you will observe something anew, that the mystery is unending. We seek all perceptions, confident that we will not find the end.