Genevieve M. Jacobs: Topic 7: Are There Limits to Science?

	Are there limits to science?  It seems 
to me that there are because of the 
fact that whenever scientists do 
discover something or figure out the 
answer to some question, there is 
always another one just as confusing 
and more difficult.  In the 
presentation the idea of limited 
exploration was discussed.  I must 
agree with this argument.  Just because 
we can imagine that there is knowledge 
lurking out in the universe for us to 
find, doesn't necessarily mean that 
there is.  The majority of people agree 
that the universe is infinite, but that 
is partly due to the fact that we have 
no idea about what is beyond our own 
discoveries of this universe.  We 
believe that there has to be more out 
there simply because we have no other 
explanations.  We speculate about what 
we do not know about the universe, but 
there is no empirical fact for us to 
base our opinions on.  Thus, it is 
difficult to claim that there are no 
limits to science when we are limited 
by the sheer fact that there is so much 
out there that is unknown to us.  While 
we may not be limited in the realm of 
science that we already have and 
understand, we cannot make a 
progression in terms of the science 
that we do not even know about.
	Is the universe infinitely vast?  To 
me, this seems like a question that 
cannot be answered.  It is all a matter 
of opinion.  Personally, I don't know 
whether I think that it is or not.  
While it is amazing that we know all we 
do about the universe, no one knows 
what goes on outside of our universe, 
if anything does.  Is there an infinite 
amount of knowledge out there to be 
gained?  There very well might be, but 
as for whether or not we will ever know 
or discover all of this knowledge is 
unpredictable.  Is there a physical 
limit on obtaining knowledge?   Once 
again, how can we tell?  Even if it 
were to be found that there was or was 
not, as with all things, there would be 
those who believe and those who do not.  
And as for the question of whether or 
not humans can comprehend all 
knowledge?   There is the possibility, 
but that goes back to the question of 
whether or not we now know or ever will 
know about all of the knowledge in the 
universe.
	All of this is a matter of perception.  
How each of us individually views the 
world.  I hope that I do not sound 
pessimistic about this topic.  I am 
just unsure as to where science is 
taking us or if it can even take us 
much further than we are now.  While I 
do believe that there is much to be 
learned about science and the universe, 
it is such a vast subject area that it 
is difficult for me to conceptualize a 
limitless scientific knowledge.