Newton and Einstein: prophets of progress

*** Does human progress in science and technology bear the
hallmarks of external influence? ***

Newton’s work forms the basis of modern physics. But what if he had
never existed? Imagine where we would be today without Newton and
also without Einstein. Human progress in science depends
disproportionately on these two individuals. It’s an interesting thought,
and one which raises questions about fundamental things that we all
take for granted. It’s generally assumed that, had these two men
never existed, eventually others would have made the same
contributions. However, this assumption is pure speculation, and it’s
arguably the arrogance of our species talking.

What was the source of the great ideas and outstanding genius of
Newton and later Einstein? What, exactly, made them so different?
The consensus is, of course, that men like these exist because genetic
evolution randomly generates outstanding individuals. However,
conspiracy theorists like to challenge the consensus and ask “what if?”

Consider the hypothesis implied by the following question: what if the
knowledge contributed by great prophets of science like Sir Isaac
Newton originated from some external source? External intervention is
not a new concept. For example, according to most of the major
religions on our planet, one or more divine beings have occasionally
revealed important messages through human conduits — the prophets.
And conspiracy theories about extraterrestrial intervention in human
affairs often raise questions about the sources of our knowledge. Etc.
Indeed, if you’re aware of some of the most credible UFO cases on
record or other information suggesting the possibility of alien life,
perhaps you’ve also wondered what impact these outsiders might have
had if they are here.

The revelations of Newton and Einstein are not inconsistent with an
“external origin of wisdom” hypothesis. For example, if human
scientific progress has occurred naturally without any external influence,
then we might expect to find that knowledge has accumulated
gradually. We may expect incremental changes as successive
generations take us forward. But Newton did not merely take existing
knowledge and develop it in order to make incremental progress. He
wrote the modern physics textbook from scratch — page after page of
entirely new material. New ideas. New theories. New formulae. New laws.
Material which did not exist before Newton.

It’s an interesting question. Does the human race occasionally produce
people who are that different, that special? Either way, there’s an even
more interesting question: what will the next Newton bring us?