"that seems to be what some of the commenters here are saying; that once you understand something it's no longer wonderful"
I don't see anyone here who has said that, and I certainly don't believe it. I 'know' how rainbows work, that doesn't stop me from going 'ooh' when I see a spectacular one. The same with fireworks. Heck, the same with TV and computers. At the same time, I don't expect (or need) to know down to the quantum level what every particle is doing to achieve the effect.
Which also ties into your thing about creating a universe. Assuming that this is your goal (for humanity, although if you want to do it personally I'd only ask that you tell me stories about it), I don't think that it requires that you know everything about it. Steam engines were build and worked without anyone knowing about what heat is or why it turned water into steam and moved things, all they had to know was that it has those effects. Electric lightbulbs worked before they worked out why. And plenty of authors have written great books without knowing every word in the language.
Indeed, I can see one reason for wanting to create a universe being the same as why people like me write programs to simulate stuff -- to find out more about it, by doing it. It would certainly explain why some of this universe seems to be rather oddly designed, perhaps the Designer has since made some better ones...
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branchandroot
Re: Rounding off--a provisionally final attempt to explain myself
Date: 2011-02-22 02:01 pm (UTC)I don't see anyone here who has said that, and I certainly don't believe it. I 'know' how rainbows work, that doesn't stop me from going 'ooh' when I see a spectacular one. The same with fireworks. Heck, the same with TV and computers. At the same time, I don't expect (or need) to know down to the quantum level what every particle is doing to achieve the effect.
Which also ties into your thing about creating a universe. Assuming that this is your goal (for humanity, although if you want to do it personally I'd only ask that you tell me stories about it), I don't think that it requires that you know everything about it. Steam engines were build and worked without anyone knowing about what heat is or why it turned water into steam and moved things, all they had to know was that it has those effects. Electric lightbulbs worked before they worked out why. And plenty of authors have written great books without knowing every word in the language.
Indeed, I can see one reason for wanting to create a universe being the same as why people like me write programs to simulate stuff -- to find out more about it, by doing it. It would certainly explain why some of this universe seems to be rather oddly designed, perhaps the Designer has since made some better ones...