The truth about science

http://angryaussie.wordpress.com

Science is built on faith. I mean that in both the good sense and the bad sense. For me, "faith" in the good sense means scientists believe in their results and those who choose to believe in science trust that people smarter than us are doing their best to come up with objectively verifiable data. The best scientists realise that there is unlikely to ever be a universal "truth" but through diligent work they add a few more pieces to the puzzle. While I think it's insane for a scientist not to have faith in their work and believe in their results, history shows us that many of the most dearly held scientific "truths" will end up being modified or completely invalidated by subsequent discoveries. From a Joe Public point of view, it simply isn't possible to have a deep understanding of how scientists come to their conclusions. These people spend years (usually their whole lives) specialising in their fields. Reading a 1,000 page book might give good insights into the science behind the latest theories and/or discoveries but you won't understand it in the same way as the scientists doing the work. Anyone who says they do really understand it is either in 0.0001% of the population or they're a wanker. Do the math and you'll see what I think of people like this. So basically by definition, if we say we believe in scientific principles we believe that based on faith. This isn't intrinsically a bad thing, like most faith it depends how you apply that faith that counts. Personally, I apply it along the lines of "I believe the majority of scientists are acting in good faith; I believe their greater goal is to expand knowledge, not prove they're better than everyone else; I believe the experiments conducted to verify important theories were rigorous, repeatable and peer-reviewed; I believe the best scientists are always asking questions because the currently believed answers might be wrong."

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[vickiormindyb]

That sounds like a Catholic belief: He's going to punish you if you don't worship him.'

Of course it also sounds like a Christian belief, but nonCatholic Christians vehemently insist they don't act the same as Catholics on the matter.

Then why did they get angry at my daughter when she stopped praying on Sep-11, 2001? Then treated her as a 'lost cause,' ignoring or snubbing her since they decided she's not going to change?

[AngryAussie]

@vickiormindyb Religion breeds hypocrisy

[ToraJutsu01]

This vid is very astute and i like the central message. i dont like the statment "Science is built on faith." because it sounds like your applying faith to science; a methodology used by scientists to discover, as opposed to science: that thing smart people do which finds out stuff. If its from the POV of non-scientists, then yes i agree completely and lets hope this is rectified in education, if its from the POV of scientists, having faith that their answers are right, then i disagree.

[AngryAussie]

@ToraJutsu01 My point is simply that the majority of people who believe in science (including me) take a lot of it on faith - we trust scientists do a good job. And it quite frankly shits me when people can't admit that.

[AngryAussie]

@Exernox No one thing is responsible for people's shitty behaviour

[titanticbodyparts]

@AngryAussie

*shrug* Well that's you. I just believe there may be a higher, omnipotent power outt here somewhere, watching over us. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I just believe this for a sense of comfort, maybe I'm right. I won't know till I die and by then it won't really matter.

All I know right now is that I believe God and Science can go hand in hand if you think about as much and in the way I have.

Which is basically. God made Big Bang and then see were it went and then guide evolution a bit.

[AngryAussie]

@titanticbodyparts I don't find it necessary to introduce the concept of a god

[titanticbodyparts]

I believe in God. But I also Believe in Science. I'm not all that religious either. I've never gone to church, I don't pray, I just believe he exist. I believe that not everything in the little black book we call the Bible is right. We are not all descended form just Adam and Eve, if we were we'd all be inbreed retards because there kids had kids with each other!

As proven by science, sister+brother+sex= retard. I think God for the most part just sits back and watches us like it a TV show.

[ToraJutsu01]

@AngryAussie Option A then. Yes i completely agree!

[ToraJutsu01]

@AngryAussie I think i understand what your getting at. it sounds like your addressing non-scientists who have faith in science, not scientists who are actually doing science everyday, for whom faith would be counter productive. ? is that about right?