“But what knowledge in particular?”
“Lord … They needed to know how to produce lift. They needed to know that air flowing over an airfoil …”
“What is it you’re trying to describe?”
“I’m trying to describe what happens when air flows over an airfoil.”
“You mean what always happens when air flows over an airfoil?”
“That’s right.”
“What’s that called? A statement that describes what always happens when certain conditions are met.”
“A law.”
“Of course. The early aeronauts had to proceed by trial and error, because they didn’t know the laws of aerodynamics—didn’t even know there were laws.”
“Okay, I see what you’re getting at now.”
“The people of your culture are in the same condition when it comes to learning how they ought to live. They have to proceed by trial and error, because they don’t know the relevant laws—and don’t even know that there are laws.”
“And I agree with them,” I said.
“You’re certain that no laws can be discovered concerning how people ought to live.”
“That’s right. Obviously there are made-up laws, like the laws against drug use, but these can be changed by a vote. You can’t change the laws of aerodynamics by a vote—and there are no laws like that about how people should live.”
“I understand. That’s what Mother Culture teaches, and in this case you agree with her. That’s fine. But at last you have a clear understanding of what I’m attempting here: to show you a law that you will agree is not subject to change by any vote.”
“Okay. My mind is open, but I can’t imagine any way in the world you’re going to accomplish that.”
2
“What’s the law of gravity?” Ishmael asked, once again startling me with an apparent change of subject.
“The law of gravity? Well, the law of gravity is … every particle in the universe is attracted to every other particle, and this attraction varies with the distance between them.”
“And that expression of the law was read where?”
“What do you mean?”
“It was derived by looking at what?”
“Well … at matter, I suppose. The behavior of matter.”
“It wasn’t derived by a close study of the habits of bees.”
“No.”
“If you want to understand the habits of bees, you study bees, you don’t study mountain-building.”
“That’s right.”
“And if you had the strange notion that there might be a set of laws about how to live, where would you look for it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Would you look into the heavens?”