Saturday, September 15, 2007

the collapsing of paradox.

sj raised an interesting point in commenting on our discussion about evolution and the myths that science hold up as fact.

to defend science in one sense i have to say that when pressed, most scientists will acknowledge that darwinian evolution regarding one species becoming another is only a theory.

sj`s comment points to science and religion doing the same thing when they ask us to believe on faith that a thing may be true.

or that a myth has some basis in fact.

science does act hypocritically in that it fails it`s own discipline of proof at times whereas religion presses of in spite of the fact.

but at the end of the day science and religion do the same job.

they write the melody that we whistle in the dark.

and remember, throughout history scientists and clergy have dined at the same table.

copernicus would allow the bishops to look through his telescope after supper and both would agree not to say anything about who saw what.

and both sides lawyers and the judge will discuss your case over dinner.

and the clintons will go to the same restaurants and share the same jokes with the bushes.

it is a population divided by belief that tolerates the treatment it gets.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I would say it's more about how "power" uses science and religion than the two themselves...

However science is constantly evolving - most scientists today don't agree with much of the stuff they found 500 years ago. We understand human body differently. We think in terms of psychology and genetics - give it a few 100 years we will have new sciences.

Dr.Alistair said...

i think at the high end science and religion are power.

X. Dell said...

I tend to think of science and religion as tools. Dumb tools, with no minds of their own. Its effect rests upon who wields it.

With respect to the epistemological issue you raise here, perhaps its better to understand the nature of these two knowledges: what they can answer (at least at present) and what they cannot.

To rely upon any one knowledge makes as much sense as playing golf with only one club. At the same time, even with a full set, one will have need of that club at some point.

Dr.Alistair said...

the proletariat is never invited to play golf and hasn`t the means to strike up a game on thier own, for the most part.

and, yes, science and religion are dumb tools. they are also disciplines that the adepts utilise to intimidate.

the church builds houses, not to shelter, but for proselytising, and science becomes more and more inscrutable in it`s pitches for funding.

how could congress understand the particle physicist asking for funding? he is, after all, one of only three men in the world expert in his field.

both science and religion sell one thing.

the big bang.

a nice profitable myth.