imagoldfish

When you have 6 protons in an atom you always get a predictable set of properties. It's not random...there has to be a reason. Cause and effect dictates that given an effect (an objects properties), there must be a cause.

There may not be a "true nature". Every object does have a nature of some sort, part of which may be beyond our ability to discern.

[Edited on May 16, 2006 4:12PM]

Hah! No...I don't believe in Intelligent Design. I do believe everything has a reason. I'm not talking about divine purpose or destiny but a cause. There is a reason we see colors. There is a reason light reflects off a mirror. There is cause and effect for everything. In essence I believe in a universal field theory, but I don't think we have the perspective to see all the parts needed to understand it.

Quantum physics allows electrons to travel back and forth in time, and superstring theorizes 11 independent dimensions. It is possible certain effects are due to causes in dimensions other than our own. There may be results we witness from 'causes' that are entirely outside our frame of reference.

I see your point though. My intended question was "How" more than "Why". That really was poor phrasing on my part. In any case, I have never heard about anyone doing experiments to determine how atoms have their properties. This question seems fundamental to understanding the nature of our universe. Knowing how atoms get their properties might allow us to engineer molecules with specific behaviors.

The scientist, by the very nature of his commitment, creates more and more questions, never fewer. Indeed the measure of our intellectual maturity, one philosopher suggests, is our capacity to feel less and less satisfied with our answers to better problems. ~G.W. Allport, Becoming, 1955