Chapter 1-2 Scientists' Views

To clearly explain "science" and to use a scientific approach to present the following content, we must first enter the scientific context and listen to what scientists have to say about the unknown aspects of our world.

There should be three types of science: natural science, social science, and human science.

— Qian Xuesen

Prof. Qian Xuesen was an advocate of human science in China. His greatest contribution to human science was to propose a systematic approach to studying humans and the relationships between the physical and mental aspects of the human body, which is different from the reductionist methods of modern science. In June 1980, Qian Xuesen first introduced the concept of "human science" in an interview with Nature magazine. He believed that the human body could be seen as an open, complex, large system, whose structure and functions need to be described through the theory of "human functional states". Traditional Chinese medicine, Qigong（气功）, and special abilities are manifestations of human functional states. He placed the study of the human body within an advanced scientific framework, profoundly impacting research in these fields.

Qian Xuesen also proposed that the human body is a complex structure composed of two systems: the physical system and the mental system. Although the mental system is presented through the physical system, once formed, the mental system exerts control and dominance over the physical system. This perspective elevates the understanding of the relationship between the physical and mental aspects of the human body to a new level, forming a self-organizing view of the physical and mental aspects that is entirely different from traditional textbooks.

Under the guidance of this outstanding scientist, the Beijing Institute of Space Medicine Engineering once conducted research on the functional states of the human body. By using multidimensional data analysis methods, they integrated physiological indicator variables into points of change that could represent the entire system of the human body. They studied the patterns formed by these variables, which could, in turn, provide objective indicators and scientific support for research in human science.

Such research is incredibly significant!

No less a figure than the Chinese cultural master Nan Huaijin also lamented: 

"Accumulating thousands of years of culture from ancient times to the present, across various cultures, from religion to philosophy, and from philosophy to today's science, the scope of human knowledge can reach far into space and delve into the minutest details, yet it still cannot comprehend the mysteries of life or find the conclusions to the mysteries of cosmic life. From this perspective, it can be said that the masses, bustling and clamorous, are still living their lives in a bewildered and ignorant state, without understanding or awareness."

On the third day of the Lunar New Year in 2024, Jensen Huang, the founder of NVIDIA, said at the World Government Summit:

 "Out job is to create computing technology such that nobody has to program and everybody in the world is now a programmer... If I were starting all over again, I would realize one thing that one of the most complex fields of science is the understanding of human biology, because it’s so complicated to understand, it is also incredibly impact living and breathing...Our computer science and software become better and better than a year before, however life science is sporadic and the digital biology will be a field of engineering, not a field of science."

Jensen Huang's mention of "human biology" directly corresponds to Qian Xuesen's concept of "human science." Over 40 years have passed, and compared to the ever-evolving fields of computer technology and artificial intelligence, it is evident that "progress in the life sciences remains fragmented". To quote Qian Xuesen's own words during an interview:

"When a new scientific study is first proposed, there are always opponents, and the pioneers always face opposition. Therefore, one must have courage and stand firm."

Whether called "human body science" or "human biology," the mystery of the human body also owes much to the pioneers of "astrophysics."

In 1687, Isaac Newton proposed "the Law of Universal Gravitation",  which states that an object's motion is directly related to its mass. Mass generates gravity, which affects the movement of objects.

In 1915, Albert Einstein published his famous "Theory of General Relativity", marking humanity's transition from the Newtonian scientific era to the Einsteinian world. Einstein introduced an additional element between mass and motion: time. He posited the existence of "spacetime curvature", suggesting that gravity is not a pure force but rather that mass causes a geometric distortion of space and time. This curvature leads to motion, and the "gravitational field" affects the measurement of time and distance. After the advent of General Relativity, people used its formulas to calculate the precession of Mercury, with results that matched precisely, providing one of the most compelling pieces of experimental evidence for General Relativity.

For a long period thereafter, the scientific community believed that: "relativity" provided the most crucial "key" to "unlocking" the mysteries of the universe. It wasn't until 1970, when American physicist Vera Rubin  observed spin movements in the Andromeda Nebula far exceeding theoretical calculations using tools based on relativity, that the scientific community finally understood: the "key" of relativity opened a new field that was enough to make the scientific community "despair"—dark matter.

Through mathematical calculations, scientists believe that nearly 90% of the mass of the Milky Way may come from "dark matter," yet we cannot "discover" it through telescopes. It took decades before scientists dared to introduce the concept of the existence of "dark matter" into textbooks.

Prof. Shi Yigong, the president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, mentioned in a public lecture:

"What you can see with your eyes, the forms of energy you can perceive, together only make up about 4% of the existence of our universe; in other words, 96% is neither visible nor perceptible to you, but it objectively exists. Within that 96%, the vast majority is in the form of energy (dark energy)... As I am giving this lecture, and you are sitting there listening, a vast amount, tons of dark matter, is passing through your body."

If this is indeed the case, it seems that this "dark matter" might be the dominator, then who are we? As humans, what is the meaning of our existence?

In other words, what we understand in our surroundings may be determined by the "unseen", just as we cannot see and consciousness, yet they constantly bodies. These "unseen existences" exist whether we believe in them or not. Those who do not believe simply have not yet experienced them firsthand.