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11/28/2007: "Science is a form of religion"

The New York Times is running a provocative piece on the faith-based nature of science: "The problem with this neat separation into 'non-overlapping magisteria,' as Stephen Jay Gould described science and religion, is that science has its own faith-based belief system. All science proceeds on the assumption that nature is ordered in a rational and intelligible way.... [B]oth religion and science are founded on faith . namely, on belief in the existence of something outside the universe, like an unexplained God or an unexplained set of physical laws, maybe even a huge ensemble of unseen universes, too. For that reason, both monotheistic religion and orthodox science fail to provide a complete account of physical existence.... [U]ntil science comes up with a testable theory of the laws of the universe, its claim to be free of faith is manifestly bogus.

[ Our society treats anything "scientific" as the word of God, even if it's wrong, so the difference is academic. ]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/24/opinion/24davies.html?pagewanted=all

Replies: 2 Comments

on Friday, December 28th, Uncle Jerry said

No it doesn't claim to know everything, but science gives vast amounts of power to humans, who have already proven themselves incapable of handling that power. Science can tell us how to build a nuclear reactor, but it can't tell us not to. It's not even a new religion in my estimation (although most vocal evolutionists I've encountered come off as being about as objective and scientific as the Roman Catholic Church of Europe's feudal period), just a Philosopher's Stone that is currently in the hands of money-hungry bastards who don't care what kind of world they leave behind.

on Wednesday, November 28th, Osama bin Laden said

Aha, Stephen Jay Gould, the ardent denier of race/IQ differences. (Google "Mismeasures of Gould&quot.What is the point here exactly? Science does not claim to know everything, while religion does, so I see the analogy as false.