Bumblebees

Occasionally, my grandma sends me one of those spam emails with the cheesy Jesus anecdotes, including the one about how mathematically, bumblebees should be unable to fly—but they can, and therefore God exists. First of all, this is dumb because math is obviously sophisticated enough to handle bumblebee flight. See http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_045.html for more info. Also, the scientific information in spam email is about as correct as actual spam is nutritious. What bothers me more, however, is the implication that if we can’t explain something, God exists. I’m not claiming that God or your deity of choice does or does not exist; I’m only commenting on the intellectual laziness required to skip directly from “I cannot explain this” to “therefore it must be Jesus.” I see the theoretical bumblebee scenario not as a triumph of faith, but as a scientific shortcoming. Fortunately there have been enough people throughout history who are uncomfortable with making such a leap in logic, who have taken the time to figure this shit out for the rest of us.

On the other hand, despite the negative connotation of the term “shortcoming,” I’m glad science has them. After all, who wants to know everything? The anticipation before unwrapping a present is often better than the moment after you’ve opened it and found another frumpy-ass reindeer sweater. The point is that the fact that you don't know what's in the box doesn't mean God put it there.