You probably think we’ve got this whole "reality" thing figured out. We’ve got GPS, Mars rovers, and particle accelerators that cost billions of dollars. But honestly? We are mostly clueless. If the universe were a giant pizza, we haven't even tasted the crust yet. We’re just staring at the box and guessing what’s inside based on the smell.
That’s basically the core premise of We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson. It’s a book that doesn't just explain science; it explains the massive, gaping holes in our knowledge. Jorge Cham is the creator of PhD Comics, and Daniel Whiteson is a particle physicist. Together, they strip away the ego of modern physics. They remind us that about 95% of the universe is made of stuff we literally cannot see, touch, or explain.
It’s humbling. Maybe a little terrifying.
The Dark Matter Problem
Look at the stars. Every single twinkling dot in the night sky, every planet, every nebula, and every black hole we've ever "seen" makes up only 5% of the universe. The rest is Dark Matter and Dark Energy.
We call it "Dark" because we're creative like that. In reality, "dark" is just physicist-speak for "we haven't the faintest clue what this is." We know it's there because gravity says so. If Dark Matter didn't exist, galaxies would fly apart like wet mud on a spinning bicycle tire. There isn't enough visible "stuff" to hold them together.
Whiteson explains this beautifully. Imagine watching a busy intersection where cars are swerving to avoid an invisible giant sitting in the middle of the road. You can't see the giant, but you see the cars moving around it. That’s how we "see" Dark Matter. We see the light bending. We see the stars orbiting faster than they should. But what is the giant made of? Is it a particle? Is it a flaw in our understanding of gravity? We’re still waiting for an answer.
What is Time, Anyway?
You’ve used it today. You looked at your watch. You felt a sense of dread about a deadline. But time is one of the biggest mysteries tackled in We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe.
Is time a fundamental thing? Or is it something that "emerges" from more basic laws, like how "temperature" isn't a real thing on its own but just a measurement of how fast atoms are jiggling?
Einstein told us time is linked to space. Space-time. It’s a fabric. But that fabric gets weirdly shredded when you look at the quantum level. In the world of the very small, the "arrow of time" doesn't really seem to care which way it points. Most equations in physics work just as well backward as they do forward. Yet, for us, eggs don't un-break and yesterday stays gone. Why? We’re still arguing about it.
The Speed Limit of Reality
Light travels at 299,792,458 meters per second. That’s the law. But why that number? Why not double? Why not half? There is no "reason" written into the universe that we can find. It’s just a constant. Cham and Whiteson point out that these universal constants—the strength of gravity, the charge of an electron—seem almost arbitrary. If they were slightly different, atoms wouldn't hold together, and you'd be a cloud of disorganized particles.
The Most Embarrassing Gap in Science
The biggest "oops" in physics is the gap between General Relativity (the big stuff) and Quantum Mechanics (the tiny stuff).
They both work perfectly in their own lanes. General Relativity predicts how planets move with incredible precision. Quantum Mechanics makes your smartphone possible. But when you try to use them together—like at the center of a black hole—the math literally explodes. It spits out "infinity," which is the math version of a 404 error.
We are missing a "Theory of Everything." Whether it's String Theory, Loop Quantum Gravity, or something some kid hasn't thought of yet, we are currently stuck with two instruction manuals for the universe that contradict each other.
What Are we Made Of?
You might remember the periodic table from high school. Protons, neutrons, electrons. Simple, right?
Not really.
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Inside those protons are quarks. And those quarks are held together by gluons. But then there are neutrinos—ghostly particles that fly through your body by the trillions every second without hitting a single atom. There are three "generations" of matter particles, and the second and third generations are just heavier versions of the first. Why do they exist? They don't seem to build anything in our daily lives. They just... are.
We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe suggests that our current "Standard Model" of particle physics is likely just a small part of a much bigger, weirder map. We’ve found the "standard" particles, but there could be an entire "Dark Sector" of particles that interact with each other but never with us.
Space is Not Empty
If you take a box and suck out all the air, all the light, and all the atoms, what’s left?
Empty space?
Nope.
Space itself has properties. It can bend. It can ripple (gravitational waves). It might even have a "minimum size," a pixelation of reality called the Planck length. If you zoom in far enough, space might not be a smooth void; it might be a bubbling foam of energy. The fact that "nothing" is actually "something" is one of the most mind-bending parts of modern physics.
Why This Matters to You
It’s easy to feel small when talking about the "unknown universe." But there’s a flip side.
If we don't know 95% of what's out there, that means the era of discovery isn't over. It’s barely started. People in the 1800s thought they had physics "solved" right before Einstein and Planck showed up and flipped the table. We are likely in a similar spot right now.
We’re waiting for the next revolution.
Actionable Ways to Engage with the Unknown
Don't just feel overwhelmed by the vastness of the unknown. Use that curiosity to change how you think about information and discovery.
- Audit your "certainty": Most things we take as fact are actually "the best model we have right now." Practice saying "we don't know yet" instead of accepting simplified explanations.
- Follow the "New Science" hubs: Don't just read mainstream headlines. Check out the Quanta Magazine or the CERN updates. They focus on the specific "glitches" in data that suggest new physics.
- Look for the anomalies: In science, the most exciting phrase isn't "Eureka!" but "That's funny..." Pay attention to the things that don't fit the standard narrative.
- Support fundamental research: Applied science (like making better batteries) is great, but fundamental science (like smashing atoms to see what happens) is how we actually move the needle on what it means to be human.
- Read the source material: Pick up a copy of We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe. It uses cartoons and humor to explain things that usually require a PhD to understand, making the "unknown" feel like an invitation rather than a wall.
The universe is huge, weird, and mostly invisible. We are a bunch of social primates on a wet rock trying to figure out the rules of a game we only just started playing. Embracing the "we have no idea" mindset isn't an admission of defeat—it's the only way to keep learning.