The Holy Grail

Humanity has an unquenchable desire for knowledge. It also has a short memory. In every era, the human race comes to believe that we are on the brink of absolute truth - that we have solved the puzzle of reality. But, invariably, soon after we discover something new and realize that we are still missing some pieces. Many argue that this cycle will continue forever, simply because humans lack the perceptual tools to view reality at its highest level, if such a thing even exists. Yet, in classic form, humanity has again reached a point where we believe we are at the threshold of a magnificent "Theory of Everything" that will perfectly encapsulate a description of reality.

Before we can consider the details of this new Theory of Everything, it is important to understand its relation to previous theories. Many incorrectly view the evolution of science as a process that continually discards old, insufficient ideas for completely unrelated new ideas. But this is not what happens at all. Today's science does not replace yesterday's science - it refines it; does not abandon it, but expands upon it, thereby improving our approximation of reality. For example, we have not branded Newton's laws invalid in favor of Einstein's General Relativity. Rather, we consider Classical Physics a special case of General Relativity in the limit of low velocities and energies (relative to the cosmic scale), and in fact, Newton's laws can be derived from the equations of General Relativity in this lower limit. In other words, Newton's laws were not wrong, they just were not the entire picture. The same applies for Quantum Mechanics - in the limit of high velocities and massive objects (relative to the microscopic scale), the equations of Quantum Mechanics approximate Newton's laws, and so Quantum Mechanics encompasses Classical Physics in its upper limit.

Here is the problem: General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics are irreconcilable. This means that the mathematics of the cosmic scale of reality and that of the atomic scale of reality do not make sense when considered together, even though they should because the atomic scale makes up the cosmic scale - they are made of the same "stuff". Thus, the holy grail of theoretical physics is a grand unification of these two theories into a coherent theory of everything that describes every level of reality. Physicists have been on this pursuit since at least the mid-1900s, and many believe that we are now very close. 

Attempts at unification do not just involve fiddling around with equations. The origin of mathematical inconsistencies in physical laws usually does not point to an error in the math itself but rather to an error in our conceptual thinking. That is, to a wrong or incomplete idea. And so, the search for a unified theory also includes looking for clues hitherto uncovered that might point to a new idea, and reconsidering notions that we have assumed to be true that may not be.

As of right now, there are several candidates for a Theory of Everything, which include String Theory, M Theory, the Standard Model and others, all put forth by brilliant scientists. Posts will follow that describe in detail each theory. Whether any of them are right remains to be seen.