Of course, there is nothing particularly wrong with popular music, just as there is nothing particularly wrong with fast food. This is, naturally, a subjective view: however, many excellent works have been recorded by popular and folk musicians alike. There is also nothing particularly wrong with television, newspapers, cinema, and so on: the media has tremendous scope for both use and abuse. But we must beware: if we allow ourselves to feed our subconscious minds with a constant diet of cultural junk-food, it is inevitably our spiritual health which must be affected.

Many scientists have instinctively made use of a form of non-verbal information communicated in the beauty and elegance in the natural order. Kitty Ferguson says that ‘mathematical consistency and beauty are an exceptionally effective pointer in science99’. The Bible agrees that the creation is characterised by beauty: ‘He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men100’. St Paul takes the argument a step further; highlighting the powerful link between beauty and the presence of God: ‘whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think of these things … and the God of peace will be with you101’.

The particle physicist, John Swartz, commented that ‘some scientists think that beauty, when based on physical evidence, has been a remarkably accurate guide to theoretical physics102’. He further commented that ‘if this beauty we’re seeking is really there, then there is one concise and beautiful answer that encompasses the whole story103’. There is, evidently, much to be learned from the study of the cosmos: according to the psalmist, that concise and beautiful answer is revealed in the stars. Written in the language of the heart, perhaps this cosmic revelation speaks directly, through non-verbal ‘right-brain’ processes, to the very soul.

The Heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they display knowledge.

There is no speech or language

where their voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out into all the Earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

THE EXTRA DIMENSION

Then let him receive the new knowledge and wait us, pardoned in heaven, the first by the throne. - Browning

You are sure to have seen examples of 'magic-eye', computer-generated graphics designed to stimulate the brain into the production of three-dimensional pictures. Books, postcards, posters, pictures and all manner of printed materials have been produced sporting these intriguing squiggles. Perhaps, like me, you have spent some time staring into the patterns trying to locate, and fix in the mind, the elusive images; and perhaps, like me, you have totally failed.

Seeing in 3d is, of course, natural to any creature capable of binocular vision; that is, with two eyes positioned to provide an overlap in the field of vision. The slight differences between the information received from each eye is decoded by the brain to generate the normal three-dimensional images of the world we perceive. Birds of prey, which need to be able to judge distance well, have binocular vision and see in 3d; whereas birds which are preyed upon, such as pigeons, tend to have eyes set wide apart. This gives them an all round field of vision - handy for spotting predators stalking from behind - but the trade-off means that they lack the ability to truly see in 3d.