Hit And Run

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To set this up for you, the reader, there was some sort of conversation between Bryan and I in the workplace on Black Holes. I believe he said something incorrect about them. And as I had recently been studying some rather involved lectures by Leonard Susskind, my understanding of quantum mechanics and Einstein’s relativity were at a high point. So, I was able to recognize a few errors in Bryan’s theory. What they were is beyond me at this point. This was quite surprise to Bryan. He prided himself on his understanding of science. He was certainly a talented engineer, but he had limitations like the rest of us. Bryan was a bit indignant, and it was at that time that he let me know that he spoke publicly on science to churches.

At the time, I was still dealing emotionally with the idea that my daughter (Destiny) had disavowed her faith. My years in the Christian church taught me that the biggest sin is the denial of Christ and once you leave the church, you cannot come back. I imagined myself sitting in a heavenly cafeteria after death with my ex-wife, her second husband and my son. The cafeteria reminded me of that on the ferry boats that cross the Puget Sound in Washington State. In this short vignette, we were enjoying our heavenly sandwiches amidst the glitter and ivory of this wonderful cafeteria. One of us piped up and said,

Gee, this sure is great. Too bad Destiny isn’t enjoying this with us. But she can’t cause she’s burning in hell right now.

I realized that if this were true, I would have to go to hell to be with my daughter in this scenario so that she would not be alone. Through the use of such thought experiments, I understood that it was impossible and that it refuted the whole idea of the Christian heaven, hell and the idea of a loving God. However, when I related the story to Bryan, my parental instincts took over and I could not help but be on the edge of a good cry.

Bryan mistook this as a cry for help and as an admission that I was not confident in my beliefs. So, he invited me to his lunchtime bible study where “No question is too big or off limits.” Bryan is a rather big man. In his younger days, he liked to fight. As a mature gentleman, he could still be aggressive. So he threw down a challenge. I have looked for it and will add it if I find it. But the challenge was something along the lines of this.

Turn back from your present course so that you are not plunged into darkness. Let there be light.

More of a dramatization then a quotation, this captures what I recall from that first challenge. I was moving deeper into science and rational thought and Bryan wanted me to stay away! The three short emails below are what I have been able to find from that initial challenge.

From: Scott Vigil
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:47 PM
To: Bryan Hunt
Subject: Hit and Run!

‘quick reaction to your “hit and run” regarding “Let there be light”.

I am reluctant to engage you on this. Non-verbals can easily be mis-interpreted in an email. I wouldn’t want to damage our friendship/working relationship by sounding disrespectful or flippant.

With that said, your challenging Susskind on his statements about black holes without examining his evidence is on par with him disagreeing with your statements regarding the need to move our code from a product that allows testing to one that is matured and is ready for operational deployment… without even looking at the code, listening to your rationale and without being a specialist in the type of embedded safety critical code that is our specialty.

His word against yours… I’m afraid it would be no contest in that arena.

From: Scott Vigil
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:49 PM
To: Bryan Hunt
Subject: RE: Hit and Run!

As a note, Susskind is a colleague and rival of Hawking.  :^)

From: Scott Vigil
Sent: Monday, February 25, 2013 12:18 PM
To: Bryan Hunt
Subject: Your Note

… Oh, my let there be light comment was a hit for you my friend. Don’t be lead astray by lots of science!

Hi Bryan,

Your note has been in my thoughts. I have felt a ticklishness by friends in the church in the past with regard to scientific questions. If science is about the search for truth and if truth is from God, how can it be an object of consternation?

Wouldn’t pseudo—science and wrong science (that is, untruths) be more of a concern?

Scott

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