39. John Calvin and Sherlock Holmes
Posted by T.T. and P.R. in September 2020
John Calvin is the religious reformer who lived in the 16 century. Although the Copernican theory of the heliocentric universe appeared in Calvin’s lifetime, he never abandoned the belief of the Biblical geocentric universe. He preached that only God can govern the motion of all the stars that revolve around us in a day, moving with tremendous velocity and maintaining a beautiful harmony with no collisions [1].
In the story of A Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson happened to meet Sherlock Holmes, and they decided to share rooms in a London dwelling. Watson found that Holmes’ enthusiasm for certain studies was remarkable, and yet he was ignorant of others, such as the Copernican Theory. He argued that, “If we went round the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference to my work.“
Although the above observations seem to be somewhat unusual, they still suggest a fact that a person can spend a rich life without having even a very basic scientific knowledge. In the present world, the complete volume of basic knowledge is tremendous, and everything has to be included in the obligatory education curriculum so that each person has to bear a heavy load, sacrificing even the best period of life.
As a result of the continued cultural progress and expansion, the amount of basic knowledge will inevitably increase in the future. If the present style of education is continued, the total amount of basic knowledge will become unbearably voluminous. Thus, future people will have to reduce the amount of obligatory knowledge, so that even a very basic knowledge, such as the composition of the solar system, will have to be removed from elementary textbooks. At the same time, everyone will be recommended to reserve a vast vacant space in the brain where truly vital knowledge can be stored instead of useless basic knowledge.
Then, future people will be released from old-style education which structures every brain into a uniform shape. In the remote future, everyone has the right of lacking common sense, believing that superstition is not criticized and relying on science is not obligatory. Imagination and reality can be dwelling together in each person. The life style of Calvin or Holmes is not regarded as unusual.
[1]. Randall C. Zachman, Reconsidering John Calvin, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK, 2012.
