Pynchon knows this, I say. Sorta always known.

[alice wellintown]

The world changes as we invent, discover, promote, new ways of seeing it.
How we see the world is determined by how we use it. Monte is right to
remind us that this is not something that came along with twentieth century
science or modernity. Humans have used nature and other humans in ways that
have changed over time as the human view of nature and of humans (who is
human?) has changed. When religion or politics or some other major force in
human society held more sway than science, then these forces and the
contexts in which they were excreted dominated.  Monte is also right to
point out that Science, albeit, relatively primitive science, has been
essential to human invention, discovery, and promotion of ideas for a very
long time. In the twentieth century, however,  science has come to dominate
our new ways of using and thus our new ways of seeing the world. Entropy
does not dictate human development or progress, science does. And, Monte is
right to point out that science, like the other arts he lists, like
politics and religion, does not exist as an entity, an evil or good one,
outside of human invention, discovery, promotion. It is human volition, not
some machine that has, like HAL, taken over, or some gnostic spawn of
darkness that works in mysterious ways, but human will that
drives  science. Of course, Science never does exactly what humans want
because exactly what humans want is modified by what a scientific view
makes possible, desirable, so that science is never satisfied with limits
but must press on, to boldly go where no carpenter would ever go.
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