If You Knew, What Would You Do?

 

Some discoveries change what we know. Others change what we believe. But what happens when a discovery changes everything?

Imagine spending your entire professional life searching for answers.

You have studied, questioned, challenged accepted theories and devoted years to understanding something that most people rarely think about. You believe in science, in evidence and in humanity's extraordinary ability to unravel the complex mysteries of the universe.

And then, one day, you find something.

Not necessarily what you were looking for. Perhaps not even something that you wanted to find.

But something that challenges everything you thought you understood.

What would you do?

Would you immediately share your discovery with the world? After all, knowledge belongs to humanity, doesn't it? Surely something of enormous significance should never be kept secret.

But suppose that knowledge had consequences.

Suppose revealing what you had discovered might fundamentally change how people understood themselves, their beliefs, their place in the universe and perhaps even their future.

Would you still tell everyone?

Or would you hesitate?

And if you did hesitate, who would have the right to make that decision? You? Your colleagues? Governments? Religious leaders? Or the billions of people whose lives might be affected?

There's another possibility, of course.

What if you weren't entirely certain that humanity was ready for the answer?

One of the characters in my novel, The Pattern in the Noise, is Jason Langford, a scientist working at CERN. Like many scientists, Jason is driven by curiosity and the conviction that understanding our universe is worth pursuing.

But curiosity and responsibility are not always comfortable companions.

Jason's story made me think about something that extends far beyond science.

Throughout history, humanity has repeatedly discovered things before fully understanding what to do with them. Sometimes we have celebrated and sometimes we have been frightened. And sometimes we have wished, perhaps only briefly, that we could put the discovery back where we found it.

But knowledge doesn't work like that.

Once you know something, you cannot simply unknow it.

Which brings me back to my original question.

"If you discovered something that could change everything, would you tell the world? And what if it wasn't your secret to tell?"

And if you decided not to, would that make you responsible or simply afraid?

I'm not entirely sure there is a comfortable answer.

Perhaps that's why I wanted to write the story.

Michael Rowan
North Somerset, UK.