The constant void enables one to observe the true essence.

The constant being enables one to see the outward manifestations.

These two come paired from the same origin.

But when the essence is manifested,

It has a different name.

Tao Te Ching

Broken symmetry and the nature of the hierarchical structure of science.

Philip W. Anderson 1962 

When I read this seminal scientific paper by American theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate Philip W Anderson, I was struck by what an elegant, powerful argument he was making. The main thrust of science is reductionism, explaining how life works by constantly drilling down deeper and deeper into the mechanisms of organisms. The ultimate scientific theory is that life is made of seventeen elementary particles, and four principle forces. What Anderson points out, is that you can’t reconstruct the universe by starting with this elementary stuff.

The main fallacy in the Reductionist hypothesis is that it does not by any means imply a “constructionist” one. The ability to reduce everything to simple fundamental laws does not imply the ability to start from those laws and reconstruct the universe.

He says that, at each level of complexity, entirely new properties and behaviours emerge, that require their own explanations. For example, snowflakes form when water droplets crystallise, creating an incredible array of unique fractal patterns, but single snowflakes combine to create another substance we call snow, which has its own unique properties. Yes, we can define snow as crystallised water droplets, but we need other definitions to describe how snow behaves and what snow does.

Consciousness can be explained by the firing of neurons in the brain, but neurons firing fails to accurately encapsulate the complexity and wonder of consciousness itself, and how it manifests into a living human being. This is called emergence.

Emergence occurs when a complex entity has properties or behaviors that its parts do not have on their own, and emerge only when they interact in a wider whole. 

Another beautiful example of emergence is an orchestra. Each instrument has its own unique sound and timbre, yet collectively they produce a symphony of sublime music.

Anderson said that the constructionist hypothesis (of making complex things from elementary particles), breaks down when confronted with the twin difficulties of scale and complexity. Similarly, we might define ourselves by our molecular components, we might argue we are a biological machine, evolved for no particular purpose other than to survive and procreate, but this reductionist view fails to encapsulate our humanity. We cannot reduce faith to particles and molecules because it doesn’t exist at that level. It only becomes manifest when the mind is made full. Belief, like love, is not measurable by scientific data but by observing its outward manifestations.

Note: Anderson was an atheist who was not making these observations to describe faith or belief, but nevertheless I think they do.