A great scientist, Laplace, wrote a monumental work in five volumes during the time of Napoleon.
It was a unique book—about the entire universe.
A vast work.
Napoleon leafed through it, examined it. He was astonished.
Five volumes, thousands of pages, describing the universe in its totality—
yet nowhere was the word God mentioned. Not even once.
Napoleon summoned Laplace to his royal court and said,
“Your book is extraordinary. You have devoted your whole life to it.
But I was certain that in such a profound work on the universe,
there would be some reference to God.
Yet the word ‘God’ does not appear at all.”
Laplace did not say that God does not exist.
He simply replied,
“The hypothesis of God is not required to explain the universe.”
Napoleon’s prime minister was seated nearby—a mathematician and a thinker.
He said,
“Even if the hypothesis of God is not necessary for you,
it is beautiful.
It explains many things.
It is a graceful idea.
I believe in God.”
Laplace said,
“I do not.”
Napoleon laughed and said,
“I see no difference between the two of you.
Both of you speak of the hypothesis of God.
One says it is not needed; the other says it is needed.
But neither of you says, ‘I know that God is.’”
A hypothesis means utility.
It helps explain certain things more easily.
If tomorrow we find a better hypothesis—one that explains more—
we will discard God without hesitation.
That is why science keeps changing its hypotheses.
What works today may be replaced tomorrow.
A hypothesis is only hypothetical.
It is an assumption.
We do not know whether it is true.
But by assuming it, certain complexities become manageable.
When a better assumption appears, the old one is dropped.
Napoleon was right when he said,
“My friends, as far as I can see, there is no real disagreement between you.
You both agree on one thing—
that God is a hypothesis.
One finds it useful, the other does not.
But neither of you claims to know God.”
~ Translated from Nirvan Upanishad by Osho (Hindi Discourse), Discourse 3
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