God’s Thoughts: Practical Steps Toward a Theory of Everything
In 1922, Einstein was speaking to young Esther Salaman during a long walk; she was talking of her dreams and goals and he was sharing some of his thoughts. Among thoughts of travel, he described his core guiding intellectual principle when he said, “I want to know how God created this world [wie sich Gott die Welt beschaffen]. I’m not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts; the rest are just details.” No matter your opinion on religion, whether you are a staunch believer or an unapologetic atheist, that phrase “God’s thoughts” is a delightfully poetic one. It represents in a metaphorical way nothing less than an understanding of the deepest and most fundamental laws of the universe. Specifically, the hope is that we will one day be able to explain all the kaleidoscope of matter and phenomena that we see as we look around us as arising from a small number of building blocks and perhaps a single force. This is would no doubt be a breathtaking achievement, but it is highly improbable that it will be achieved soon. Instead, it is more likely that we will make incremental advances that one day might lead to success. In this article, I’d like to review what we know so far and draw your attention to holes in our current theories that might provide clues to the next big advance. This is the core thrust of this article; rather than speculating on an improbable and grand advance, it concentrates on realistic progress we might make over the next few years.