Discovering a new explanation is inherently an act of creativity.

Feeling insignificant because the universe is large has exactly the same logic as feeling inadequate for not being a cow.

I don't think it would be a good idea for scientists to have more political power. Scientists as a group are more inclined to try to derive an ought from an is, than the population at large.

To me quantum computation is a new and deeper and better way to understand the laws of physics, and hence understanding physical reality as a whole.

If you reject the infinite, you are stuck with the finite, and the finite is parochial... the best explanation of anything eventually involves universality, and therefore infinity. The reach of explanations cannot be limited by fiat.

Discovering a new explanation is inherently an act of creativity.

If we can't program it, we can't understand it.