The mathematical approach to mystery

by Alycia P.

I am a very rational person, or at least I like to think so. It is easy for me to sit and dissect a problem, especially one involving calculations and digits. Math comes easy to me for this reason: I can easily identify a problem, and using proven formulas and principles, can manipulate numbers until I get to a unique, correct answer. I enjoy solving these kinds of problems, as they do not contain any sort of mystery. There is a definite right and wrong, and thus no question as to whether a solution is correct or not.

Most problems, then, are easy to objectify. An issue or thing exists as an obstacle in some form. Most importantly, problems can be overcome. Solutions may be hard to come by, but the existence of a problem implies that something is wrong, and thus needs to be fixed. Something must right the wrong.

Now mysteries, on the other hand, do not hold the same identifiable properties. It is hard to explain exactly what a mystery is without using the word ‘mystery’ in some form or another. It is unknown how to overcome a mystery or even if it is possible to do so. The thing about a mystery is that it would not exist unless someone made it into ‘something’. Why is the mystery an issue? If we do not know what it is, or cannot identify its properties, would it even be something? What if we made it out to nothing? The fact that we are even making it into something shows that it is not ignorance that creates a mystery, but a quest for wisdom. A mystery, then, could be this yearning for knowledge to learn more.

Religion is an answer to this need. It is a grand mystery that it impossible to objectively answer, and thus, it does not exist as a problem, but a want of an explanation to know more. This is why so many different religions exist—it is subjective to the human, and there is no definite answer. Christian theology is one form, using the teachings of prophets and ultimately banking on the existence of Jesus Christ as the human coming of God. Are we right or wrong? How could we know?

I took a philosophy class a few years ago that referenced Blaise Pascal and his wager about religion. It said that belief in God was ultimately rational and used the same methods of economic reasoning to show why this makes sense. Believing in God is a risk, he argued, because ultimately you are either right or wrong, and the choice offering the greatest utility was to believe. It is an interesting way to look at the connection between a problem and a mystery where religion is involved, especially for someone with a mathematical mind like me.