Does the Moon Have a Purpose?

Science has taken humanity to all new limits. Ventures into space have proven that what goes up may not always come down. Man has discovered how to defy earth’s gravity with satellites and even trips to the moon. Not only can next week’s forecast be predicted, but so can the end of the sun as we know it. Science has become so expansive that we tend to forget that we owe the beginnings of such knowledge to a few ancients who simply took the time to marvel at the stars. 

Society faces a dangerous trap today–to not let any mystery occur. We are far too easily satisfied with a television set instead of the open skies. We would rather have the facts handed to us and be done. The type of puzzles that science ponders do have answers. Once they are found, the subject often becomes limited or lackluster. It is a curious thing that vast amounts of discoveries in astronomy are made by amateurs. Perhaps there is something more enriching about what remains unknown.

A person does not find purpose in discovering the exact structure of the sun or a physics equation that predicts the beginning of the universe. It is the unanswerable questions of why these things exist, of compassion and love, or of spirituality that motivate life. One does not find passion in the answers of science, but in what drove one to ask questions in the first place. Curiosity and wonder breathe life into the numbers and experimentations. Wonder provides the best fabric for the greatest scientific discoveries and the deepest pieces in philosophy and literature.

Take the moon for example, a long time friend to romantics, metaphysicians, and curious astronomers. Science today tells us that there is no dark side of the moon, that the rabbit on the moon is merely the byproduct of lava filled craters that cooled long ago, and that it is most certainly made of rocky material--not cheese. Science can accurately predict how, when, and where the next lunar eclipse will occur. It can describe the effect of the moon on our tides. It tells us how the moon behaves, not its purpose (if it even has one) or the reason for its place in our poetry. The moon may be geologically dead, but it is very much alive in our night sky. Science can not curb what drove humanity to seek these answers in the first place. They are all quite worthless if you ask me, unless you still take the time to marvel at the moon.

-Angela

Photo courtesy of http://www.bunnyrabbitonthemoon.com/