Harmony, Reason, and the Natural Sciences

Since reason seeks harmony (unification of diverse elements) and delights in it, we will continue to think until all things are brought into this harmony. Just in case anybody fears that thought is thus made finite, I wouldn’t worry about that too much. If you achieve this perfect harmony, you’ll just have to open your eyes and ears to the world around you. New things will happen and you won’t know how they fit in with everything else.

So it’s not just a theoretical harmony our minds seek, but a practical one.

This is one of the reasons the sciences are both so glorious and so frustrating. Their explanatory power is awesome, giving that word its truest meaning. But they don’t explain everything, and can’t. That drives some people to distraction.