A theory does not have to be true to be meaningful and beautiful. This is so as long as we do not totally “believe” a theory; belief being defined as a theory on which we are willing to act. But there are theories which are only hypotheses, inspired guesses with which we play but are not willing to act on. It is these provisional theories to which the first sentence of this paragraph applies.

A provisional theory only outlines a possibility of how things fit together. It then comes close to a legend or a myth. A scientific theory would then proceed to seek evidence to back it up, by experiments and observations, and to elaborate its predictions by mathematical methods if possible. In a similar way, scholarly history is different from legends and myths of cosmic or national origins, being based on a meticulous examination of the records. But meticulous search for the truth can obscure beauty. Who has not felt restless and somewhat bored by the endless citation of sources or the descriptions of the details of experimental procedures, in scientific or scholarly papers?

The corpus callosum connection between left and right brain hemispheres must be kept open, so that the messages can flow freely between left-brain Truth and right-brain Beauty. Let us stay away from being overly lateralized, like macho men.

Word play does for beauty and myth what number play does for truth and science — it makes things seem more real, through the poetry of words or numbers. (Both of them are language, in that they elucidate meaning.) Mathematics is more universal, but only for a small section of intellectuals. Word language is split up into thousands of tongues spoken around the world, but even lowly peasants can do it. So each form of expression has its advantages and disadvantages.

Can we combine Truth and Beauty, like the two super-heavy quarks only recently discovered, into a Meson of Meaning?