From John Taylor’s surveying and engineering to the Enlightenment’s struggle with metaphysics, this reflection asks a simple question: how much do we really need to know about ultimate reality in order to live intelligently within it? Physics learned to measure, predict and act without waiting for metaphysical certainty. Perhaps we can do the same.
While the public argues about chatbots and digital art, artificial intelligence has quietly crossed a threshold: it no longer merely assists research — it now makes discoveries of its own. From protein folding to mathematics, weather, and medicine, the pace of knowledge has shifted from human time to machine time. The question is no longer whether AI will transform science, but whether humanity can still keep pace with the knowledge it creates.