Dark energy \'proven\' (Introduction)

by dhw, Friday, September 14, 2012, 19:08 (4430 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: Using a specialized technique, dark energy is over 99% certain:-http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120912084759.htm-
The following caught my eye as a rather rich parallel. The thoughts that follow the quote are not meant as a comment on the team or on its research, but on a general mindset that from my agnostic standpoint seems to have become increasingly prevalent in the scientific community.-"Professor Bob Nichol, a member of the Portsmouth team, said: "Dark energy is one of the great scientific mysteries of our time, so it isn't surprising that so many researchers question its existence.
"But with our new work we're more confident than ever that this exotic component of the Universe is real -- even if we still have no idea what it consists of."-Something or the other brought the universe into existence. Something or the other brought life into existence. Something or the other brought consciousness into existence. That "something or the other" is one of the great scientific mysteries of all times. Some people call it Nature, some people call it Chance, and you could even call it "dark matter", since the term can mean anything. We can be confident that this exotic component of the Universe is real (exotic = we don't understand it), because we can see the results for ourselves. We have no idea what it consists of, but some people are quite sure it doesn't know what it's doing, so it can't be called God. That would be unscientific.