At first the ancient peoples were content with the world. It seemed very roomy, immensely large. Though some remained convinced that it was flat and that the sun circled the world and went under it at night, many thought it round. The stars remained a tapestry for some hundreds of years; the moon an object provided by god to light the night.

Soon, though, discontent set in and looking again there were those who found it sound to think that there were other orbs besides the earth. Still, arrogant as they were, earth was the center around which all flew. Great thinkers arose who examined further still. The sun, they found, was the center of the orbits, even of the earth’s.

Great vessels plied the seas and soon affirmed, the earth was round, as round as a sphere. When they traversed the circumference of the planet, the planet shrank in size, at least in thought. They knew the land and sea was finite and came to wonder how small it really was. Again, those of greater intellect came forward and from mathematic equations were able to estimate an approximation. Though human kind pale in size when compared to the planet, the planet shrank in size, in thought, once more.

Contentment is a fleeting condition and so the thinkers began to wonder just what lie beyond the sun. Using astronomical calculations they found many other planets circling the sun above. Earth was even less unique, it seemed, and smaller still. As observational equipment grew in quality and power, soon enough it seemed the sun was being swarmed by numerous bodies. Even a band of tiny orbs was found between Mars and Jupiter. Still more discoveries, farther out, reduced the Earth to mere membership in the horde.

Planet membership grew to nine, but soon someone noticed that Pluto was merely a planetoid, being one of many outer orbs, and not even the largest. Membership now down to eight.

These blasted thinkers, why won’t they go away, thought more about what lie out further still. They came to understand the immensity, of at least what they could see, when they grew to understand that there were multitudes of stars, some bigger than our sun, out there. Billions, billions they saw, as plentiful as the sand on the beach. They were astounded at the size of the universe.

Technology, like thinkers, never rests. Soon it was clear that some of those stars were not stars at all. Astounded they discovered we reside in just one of many galaxies. Billions, they discovered, billions of galaxies. What a pinprick then, the Earth became.

Satisfaction with the status quo, not being a normal state, soon the thinkers tread softly into the unknown, the unseen. What, they wondered, was beyond the horizon, that distance to which they were restricted? Was there an edge? Did those galaxies that seemed to be fleeing the vicinity of one another merely pile up on a wall? Was there a wall at all? If there were, they scratched their heads, what lies beyond?

Was our universe merely a bubble? Perhaps it’s one of many. Bubble universes touching or not, separate and different. What are these madmen thinking? Are they trying to reduce existence to the soap-like bubbles in our bath?

Our universe, for whatever reason, favors our existence. Conditions are mild enough it seems that life can form and adapt to what is offered. These great minds speculate that though our universe may be suitable, many others may not be so friendly. Not having seen the edge of ours, I wonder, how can they know it ends? With the disparate galaxies madly fleeing in directions opposed to one another, does the bubble expand or does matter gather like some lather upon a curved wall? I think these people with their large capacity thinking organs are no different than the ancients who guessed at what produced the rain, the wind, the sky. They are way beyond the technology capable of verifying their grandiose thought. Are they very much like those that think, and think, and think to the point where even reality fades into a delusion? Perhaps their thought is stuck in overdrive?

I have always been pro-science. I will always be pro-science. Nevertheless I like at least to understand before I consider adopting new thought. There is so much science that seems more like common sense, then there is quantum physics. I begin to wonder if they are merely treading unknown thought, or if they have simply gone off the pier.