Dr. George Peter Pittappillil CMI

Why did you opt physics as your optional topic of study and teaching in college? What is it that challenges you in the physical world?

I opted for physics because I was very much interested in the subject. The combination of logic and imagination in looking for answers to the infinite mysteries surrounding every little thing was and is very interesting for me. Every little thing in the physical world, starting from the most fundamental particles that are recently proposed by scientists from the Hadron Collider experiments to the vast black holes that have been recently photographed by the astrophysicists present infinite questions. The more you understand, the more you do not understand.

You are a CMI priest. The Congregation conducts many colleges and even a university? Why are you so concerned about education, especially science education?

Education is the best help that an institution can give to a society. CMIs are doing a good service by educating. Of all the paths to seek truth, science is the easiest and best for ordinary humans to approach reality. I think science education is very important because it brings us closer to the truth.

Jesuit Bro. Guy Consolmagno, director of the Vatican Observatory recently said : “The spirituality of the Jesuits is all about our place in creation: why we are created, why the world was created, how we relate to creation and that leads to that famous Jesuit mantra, ‘Find God in all things,’”  How do you see?

The way we understand creation is very partial. But the reality is beyond our brain’s capacity. The questions are natural, but the answers provided by thinkers and seekers of all times result from the way they understood God and Reality. For humans finding God in everything is the best possible solution for all the questions.

Why did you start a renewable energy project and what are you doing there? What is the importance of your endeavour?

Fossil Energy is polluting energy. It destroys nature and our health. To be free from the use of fossil energy is a very important need for the entire living being. As I feel this very intensely, I thought this is a great service that I am obliged to do with my uniqueness. God was motivating me and giving me full support. He still does in ways unimaginable for human beings. It is also a natural stage in the evolution of energy. According to some scientists humans are now in the transition stage from the zero level energy civilization to the 1st level energy civilization.

Heidegger  wrote, “Science does not think” it only calculates and computes. Technology frames everything for use making the whole world a reservoir of resource materials, can the world be converted as such? Does science refuse to see the world play and sees only the coming of goods?

I do not fully agree with Heiddeger’s statement about what science does. It is only partially true. It is true that technology provides many resource materials. But it also is helping to reduce materials. Paperless communication is one example. World should not be filled with materials. It will be too artificial and will lose its original character. I think it is not true that “science refuses to see the world play and sees only the coming of goods”.

Lemaître, the proponent of big bang theory is Catholic priest who taught  at the University of Leuven in Belgium, how do you relate the story of creation with the story of the big bang?

The story of creation is appealing to the ordinary human mind. It is only a story. Logic is not very important. It is written to give a message. The one who made this story responded adequately to the needs of his time. Big bang is also another story with the present understanding of cosmology and accepted by most of the scientists. The story is based on scientific observation of the expanding universe.

There are many priests and religious involved in scientific research and study of the universe, why is a study of science important for us?

The study of science is important for priests and leaders of society due to many reasons, among them the most important are i) The present knowledge level of the people they lead. ii) It is one of the best tools for seeking truth.

A.N. Whitehead, a mathematician and philosopher, asked why modern science started in Europe, his answer was because they believed in rationality? What is your view?

I think modern science has developed in Europe in the renaissance period. There was a rational awakening. I agree with A.N. Whitehead’s answer.

What would be the prayer of a scientific researcher?

“Thy will be done.”

Dr. George Peter Pittappillil CMI

Director, Renewable Energy Centre,

Mithradham

Chunangamveli, Aluva- 683112