I heard that Iris Murdoch said (or wrote), “Everything that comforts is fake.”

Then I read:

According to the best theories available, matter — everything we can see and feel in the universe — should not exist. Every particle of matter comes into being with a doppelgänger, a particle of antimatter (or “antiparticle”) with equal but opposite properties like charge and spin. Whenever a particle and its antiparticle meet, they annihilate each other. Particles and antiparticles can be made in equal measure, but they eventually find and destroy one another, leaving behind nothing.
(Joseph Howlett, “Mining for Neutrinos, and for Cosmic Answers,” New York Times, 9-5-24)

I remembered that Simone Weil said everything we think of as a “human right” (life, liberty, equality, peace, etc.) can be taken away from us. The only inalienable ground we stand upon is awareness of the suffering of others.

Early that same day (Sept. 5, 2024, eighth anniversary of my mother’s death), I saw a cartoon by Gary Lawson. Two portly scientists in white coats, backs to the viewer, stare at a chalkboard filled with equations. In the caption, one of them says, “No doubt about it, Ellington—we’ve mathematically expressed the purpose of the universe. God, how I love the thrill of scientific discovery!” The result of the welter of calculations filling the chalkboard is zero.

Where these several strands lead me is to take issue with Iris Murdoch. Laughter comforts, and is real.

(c) 2024 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved