Imagine how much more we could accomplish as a species and civilization if, instead of focusing on religion, people would take all that time and energy and place it on something that actually works. This brings to mind two important things in my life. First, it makes me think of my mother who dies a horrible death as a result of cancer and complications of a stroke. If we had put more time and energy into medical exploration, into sending more people to medical school, or encouraging more children to pursue science as a profession, then there is a chance that my mother could still be alive. Or at least, she might have had a less traumatic end to her life. The memories of a helpless woman suffering for nearly two years is unbearable, and the possibility that it can be different for those in the future is astounding. But we must focus on the reality of needs, not the superstitions of people who believe that suffering is somehow good anyway. Second, I think of my son who has an array of developmental and neurological issues including, what can only be best described as autism. Since medical doctors and researchers have begun serious studies on ASD, they are finding an amazing complexity to the disorder that is opening up another dimension to the universe of the brain. I cannot help but reflect upon the awesome power of the brain and how it finds ways to compensate for certain aspects of  such a debilitating condition; but it cannot overcome everything. One thing that I have learned as a family man and as an academic, is that there are often very simple, and sometimes ridiculous roots to some of the most chaotic problems. If this is the case for cancer or autism, I can only hope that we can find the roots of those conditions so that we can prevent it from happening to others. If both of them are merely mutations in our genetic code that we are unable to change, then we should know that, too. What is most important, however, is that there are answers to these questions, and we should be dedicating extensive time and energy to solving these puzzles that effect the lives of billions people. That is an endeavor far more noble than naively putting something in the hands of a deity that likely doesn't exist.