There is no reason that it should matter to me. I can let people believe whatever they want to when it comes to religious beliefs and respect them. Why not with scientific beliefs? The two are much closer than the proponents of either would be willing to admit. Would ever be able to bring themselves to admit. And why am I baiting you now? I don't know. I had not noticed I had this problem before. Time for some inner house cleaning it looks like. What I say I believe and what I am doing are not in alignment.
Believing in things because of evidence is fundamentally different than believing in things despite a lack of evidence or evidence to the contrary. In other words, the former is rational, while the latter is irrational.
If a person is dying of cancer, prays for a miracle, and watches the cancer go into remission, is that not evidence, to that person, of a higher power? (I am not a religous person, but bear with me.)
The scientist would say no, because the results are not repeatable. Science demands that they be so, and rightly so because science's goals are theory and fact. But religious belief does not have the same condition attached. Does this make it inferior? Only from the point of view of the scientist and his goals, because such belief is incompatible with those goals except as a means to inspire more effort toward them.
You contend that the two types of belief are different because of the reasons behind them, and I'm not saying I think you're wrong. But fundamentally different? I'm not so sure. They are both belief, and they both have an affect on the human spirit (by which I mean human dreams, aspirations, etc., not a literal ghostly spirit thing).
You say that one is rational and one is irrational, which is technically correct. I don't know if you meant any negative connotation to that word, irrational, though it often comes with that negative baggage. Illogical might be the word I'd use instead, for logic and illogic is a more cold, clearly defined division. Irrational suggests, well, crazy. I don't think there's anything crazy about belief in something despite a lack of evidence. That sort of belief can have very real effects on the human condition, on hopes, dreams, interactions with others, the things that inspire us, the things that make us feel wonder and mystery. Those aren't irrational, even if the belief technically is. Sometimes that illogical belief can lead to negative effects, but only sometimes. But pure belief in the unknown, by itself, is not crazy. It keeps our eyes open.
And in the end, both science and religion/belief in the unknown serve one identical purpose: they both make us feel very small in the universe.
Warder to starry_nite
Chapterfish — Nate's Writing Blog
http://chapterfish.wordpress.com
Chapterfish — Nate's Writing Blog
http://chapterfish.wordpress.com
This message last edited by Nate on 05/12/2010 at 04:55:51 AM
More Important Than Soccer: Completely new type of DNA discovered
02/12/2010 04:48:51 PM
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Wow. *NM*
02/12/2010 05:32:08 PM
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that is TOTALLY inappropriate
02/12/2010 04:58:47 PM
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Crazy awesome.
02/12/2010 05:07:49 PM
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So the movie Evolution was real!
02/12/2010 05:24:16 PM
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Dang. I thought it was naturally occurring. Missed the part where it was grown in a lab.
03/12/2010 02:16:16 AM
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I won't pretend I know enough about biology to understand the impact of this
02/12/2010 06:26:24 PM
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It's like finding a type of rock that eats laughter
02/12/2010 06:51:15 PM
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... without coming down and dealing with the nasty stomach cramps.
02/12/2010 09:49:06 PM
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I think I had an ex once that was made of arsenic. *NM*
02/12/2010 07:10:57 PM
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So, is it an alien?
02/12/2010 07:19:49 PM
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They haven't mentioned anything saying it's not from Earth, I think
02/12/2010 08:03:44 PM
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The bacteria in question is part of a known lineage
02/12/2010 08:07:34 PM
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see my note below
02/12/2010 08:13:35 PM
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Maybe
02/12/2010 08:23:16 PM
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So, apparently, this bacteria doesn't use arsneic for its DNA in its natural state?
02/12/2010 08:06:02 PM
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While awesome, it's a bit of a problem.
02/12/2010 09:04:22 PM
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True, but I'm not "looking for" anything in particular, so I just like it
*NM*
02/12/2010 11:09:21 PM
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Less cool a revelation than I was hoping, but certainly not a complete disappointment. *NM*
02/12/2010 10:35:33 PM
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I don't understand why this is such a big deal. It always seemed common sense to me that there are
02/12/2010 10:40:22 PM
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I think it just makes them happy that they can widen the parameters for life-sustaining planets. *NM*
02/12/2010 11:00:31 PM
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yah. it's one thing to theorize, another thing to find something to hold true.
02/12/2010 11:10:23 PM
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It's much more than an educated guess.
02/12/2010 11:59:18 PM
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You can't "know" from this distance.
03/12/2010 03:13:05 AM
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Why not?
03/12/2010 04:42:15 AM
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obviously you have not learned to look at the back label on the car
*NM*
04/12/2010 07:04:42 PM
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Yes, we can.
04/12/2010 06:04:48 PM
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The problem probably is with me.
04/12/2010 08:00:56 PM
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No, they aren't.
04/12/2010 10:01:25 PM
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Depends on how you view evidence, no?
05/12/2010 04:50:11 AM
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Are you baiting me to bait you?
05/12/2010 06:41:49 AM
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I'm just carrying on a conversation.
05/12/2010 07:26:39 AM
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Re: I'm just carrying on a conversation.
05/12/2010 07:08:04 PM
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Re: I'm just carrying on a conversation.
05/12/2010 07:56:43 PM
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Re: I'm just carrying on a conversation.
06/12/2010 03:15:37 AM
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I made my students watch the NASA channel for over two hours today
02/12/2010 11:11:40 PM
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