Discovery's 'Curiosity' No Deeper Than Ancient Aliens, 'Jersey Shore'

COMMENTARY | A new series titled "Curiosity" debuted on the Discovery Channel Sunday night. The premiere episode, "Did God Create the Universe?," answered the provocative question of religious faith with the scientific answer of theoretical faith. The episode was based on Stephen Hawking's recent book "The Grand Design," which polarized critics and readers alike.

While there is no doubt Hawking is one of the most famous scientists of our time, even he acknowledges that the subject matter is a matter of belief, reminding the audience that the rift between science and religion is a long and bitter one. Most of the metaphors and analogies used to explain complex creation theories are old themselves, making the computer-generated animations the newest content of the program.

I prefer educational programming on television, especially programs about science and physics. The universe and its laws are fascinating, but I feel like Discovery recycled many long-established ideas with its attempt at blueprinting creation. Much of the programming on the Discovery and History channels are as ridiculous as the "Jersey Shore," or focus on subjects like conspiracy theories, cryptozoology and ancient aliens. I found Mayan prophecy and Terence McKenna's end of the world predictions with the "I Ching" interesting in 1995, but that type of programming jumped the shark a long time ago.

It occurred to me that theoretical physicists have a very unique job. Most of the modern physicist's theories will not be disproved for hundreds of years, and job security is great because matter was in great abundance last time I checked. It is important to ask the really hard questions, but pondering over the creation of the universe is overall an unproductive endeavor that is best relegated as a leisure activity.

I find the best study of the universe starts right here on Earth. Human civilization does seem to follow certain immutable physical laws, but we are downright complex and magnificent creatures. While science on Earth tends to follow laws of physics, the rest of the universe and matter on a subatomic level is less predictable.

Writing the discussion off as God vs. Science is a cop out in my opinion. If you're going to put some thought in to it, consider that our physical laws could be like a programming language such as what your computer uses. While one language works on certain software and hardware, other languages may be required for different operations. We are constantly revising what we know about physics, and occurrences that seem to defy physical laws are not uncommon. It isn't prudent to assume that the code came before the programmer, but we will never know because all we see is the finished software.

You can catch "Curiosity" on Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on the Discovery Channel.

Additional Sources-
Curiosity on Discovery.com