Science begins with the willingness to drop a theory when it is contra-
dicted by fact.
Art begins with the willingness to tear down a museum or concert hall
and put up a new one when they no longer fit what we see as meaning-
ful or beautiful.
Religion begins when we are willing to drop rigid belief and claims to
absolute authority because we have seen that these are the very source
of the barriers that divide us.
Attempting to unite Science, Art and Religion in their present state of
disarray, however, would be certain folly. It would most surely result
in questionable hybrids, like a Mozart Mass pumped up with drums
and bass guitar, or a pseudo-science constructed consciously as a
smokescreen for the fundamentalist conditioning of the young.
And yet the fragmentation of Science, Art and Religion corrupts the
high-country springs of our collective creativity. Better to take down
the arbitrary blocks and dams that are the root cause of their present
division—one at a time and all at once—and let them flow together in
what for us now are wholly unknown ways .
In Politics, the most radical idea is simplicity;
In Art, the most difficult idea is simplicity;
In Science, the most necessary idea is simplicity;
In Religion, the most mysterious, arduous, complex
idea—is simplicity.