The Elephant Versus the Razor
What is dark matter? How does it influence our Universe? Gather eight people in the room, you will likely get eight different answers. Everyone will answer based on their own, individual perspective—every answer will be unique! How can we separate our perspective from the truth? Science is the process by which we seek the truth. The tools of science are tried and true, but tools have their limits. Let us explore which tools we can use to discover the structure of dark matter near the Earth…
Unfortunately, we cannot see the dark matter. We humans are visually oriented. The eyes are not just windows to our souls, they are our windows on the Universe. What we see, we trust; what is invisible, we probably will not. Rest assured, if we can see it, we will figure out how to make a tool out of it. No wonder it took us so long to develop powered flight. It takes great faith to rely on forces generated from simply moving air. Then it takes tremendous patience to make the invisible work to our advantage.
Our distrust of the invisible is beautifully depicted in the allegory of the Blind Men and the Elephant. This ancient story comes to us from India. In the story, a group of blind men who had never encountered an elephant come across one. Each slowly approaches the elephant and toughtes a part of it. Each blind man tries to explain what he has touched to the others.
- One grabs the trunk and proclaims they have discovered a snake.
- Another disagrees. He has grabbed the tusk and proclaims they have a spear!
- One grabs the ear. This is a fan!
- One grabs a leg, and argues they have found a tree.
In some versions of the story, the disagreement escalates, and the blind men come to fisticuffs.
While we can image what might have come next in this story, at this point let us take the story in a new direction. What if the blind men forced themselves to settle the debate using the tools of science? What are these tools, and what would be their limits?
By far the most predominant process in science is that based on experiments. This process is used to often, it bears the moniker The Scientific Process. In this process, we construct a hypothesis, then test it. When it has been tested enough, and passes every test, we elevate the hypothesis to a theory. This process is a tool, a might tool, and it is a process even grander than science, coming to us from the world of logic and philosophy.
The blind men did start using the scientific process. Each man observed something, and from that observation formed a hypothesis. They just happened to form different hypotheses. If the blind men had continued with the scientific process, then their next steps would not have been debate, or fighting, it would have been experimentation. The story might have become a funny story indeed. Imagine what happen if a blind man took a saw to the elephant’s leg!
This logical oversight makes the allegory funny. It pokes at human nature, a worthy target for humor. Had the blind men worked together, hopefully in a safe manner to themselves and to the elephant, they could have dismissed every one of their hypothesis. They might now have known what an elephant was, but by continued observation, I think they would have developed an understanding. Maybe the elephant would have become their friend!
A subtlety to this story is that the scientific method would not have availed a final, quick answer to these men. Since they did not know what an elephant was, perhaps the best hypothesis they could have proven is that this was an animal. As the elephant moved, or if it fed, or cried, the men would have quickly understood they have at hand a mighty creature.
So through this allegory we see that the scientific process is limited by the experiments we can make. It is also limited by the hypotheses we submit to it. In certain branches of science, where we have full control over experiments, we can make progress with the scientific method. These branches include physics and chemistry.
However other branches of science deals with subjects that are complex. In these cases the scientific method is difficult to apply. Take for example environmental science. The environment is difficult to isolate as the exchange of energy and materials is its very purpose. Also, consider psychology. Experiments on humans have to be governed by strict protocols, given the sanctity of human life. To make matters worse for psychology, the adaptability and complexity of the human brain makes isolating one component for an experiment very difficult.
At this point, I would contend that the topic of dark matter has been well developed by astronomy and astrophysics. This is despite the inability to conduct controlled experiments. Their conclusions are based large amounts of observation, each set of observations different in configuration. Based on tremendous amounts of observations, many conclude the existence dark matter. What we would expect next is for particle physics to weigh in.
Particle physicists have been hard at work building detectors for dark matter, some deep within Earth. The current hypotheses for dark matter predict that dark matter passing through the Earth would rarely interact with isolated gases in test containers. The reaction would be at the nuclear level. However, so far, no smoking gun has been observed.
Some would then conclude that dark matter exists far from Earth, or is essentially nonexistent near Earth. I assert this conclusion violates an important tool, the universality of science. The same processes that occur in distant galaxies are the same processes that occur in this one. Gravity works the same, everywhere. Friction works the same, everywhere. What may be different are the conditions. Maybe on Earth we have conditions that make it more difficult to observe dark matter. Or, given some insight, and some though, maybe there are conditions that make it observable. We will discuss these ideas extensively in later posts.
Given the limits of the scientific method, what other tools might we apply? Is there a tool that can be used that does not require experimentation? One tool we might use is Occam’s Razor, a method to discarding competing or alternative explanations. It states that all things being equal, the simplest explanation is the best one. How would this have applied to the allegory of the blind men and the elephant?
In the allegory, each explanation is a simple object. No explanation is simpler or more complex than the next. Or, are they? A spear is a simpler object than a tree. A snake could be considered more complex than a tree. If the blind men were to force the issue, using only Occam’s Razor to guide them, then perhaps the spear explanation would have become accepted. Until, perhaps, a blind man was trampled by the spear’s foot. Ouch!
Occam’s Razor, like the scientific process, is an extension of human wisdom. In engineering, we use the KISS principle, which stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid! Or the G-rated version is Keep It Simple, Sam! This innate wisdom is very practical. But it can be wrong. This adds to the humor of the tale (the tale? sorry couldn’t resist). The real explanation is more complex than any one offered. The men wanted a simple explanation. As we discussed early, each person could have used further observation to eliminate his hypothesis.
Of course every tool has its limit. You wouldn’t pound a nail into a board using a rope! Instead, you would hammer it, with a hammer! I have then this counter to Occam’s Razor:
“Make things as simple as possible, but not simpler.” — Albert Einstein
Occam’s Razor is only a guideline when there are few explanations in place, as well as few observations. When confronted with multiple competing ideas about the same topic, our maneuver should be to explore more perspectives.
In the case of dark matter, I assert that the field of orbital mechanics can provide additional perspective not offered by astronomy or physics. In the case of, we can do more than observe. We can contrive new orbits to explore dark matter new Earth. We can also look at signatures of dark matter in existing orbits. In the case of physics, we do not need to rely on detection schemes based on anticipated interactions.
So the banner statement of this site follows. Let us return to first principles. This is a tool of science (and engineering) that is oft overlooked. As disciplines become more complex, they fold in assumptions over assumptions. That again is part of human nature. Let us go back to the simple principle that dark matter is hidden mass, that creates gravity.
Now we can state this mission of this site: let us map out the distribution of dark matter near the Earth. This map could help astrophysicists plan how observe dark matter. Also if the map changes over time, we can make conclusions about the nature of dark matter.
As we approach dark matter, we are like the blind men an the elephant. All we can bring is our experience to bear. We can offer ideas, and if possible, we can test them. Because I believe that dark matter may be attached to the Earth, and because I have experience with orbital mechanics and satellite technology, I think with some thought we can prepare experiments that explain the nature of dark matter. It is my hope that once we understand this mighty beast, we can befriend it, and it can help solve some of the great challenges that face humanity.