I think one of the comments said it best: -- I agree with you on that. The religious population certainly has more sins (pardon the pun) to atone for than the scientific community. But I would also point out that, while a scientist would be far more likely to question his fundamental assumptions about the universe than a fundamentalist, the scientist is talking about beliefs about nature. He is concerned with physical properties, processes, and other things that are, on a metaphysical level, relatively unimportant. The religious person's beliefs, on the other hand, are about the very nature of the universe itself, the reason it exists, the point of life. If it turns out that gravity is really just a sub-force of some unifying force in the universe, what difference does it really make in our lives? But the question of whether there is an omnipotent God who expects certain things from us, if taken seriously, would have an impact on every area of our lives. I do think the two are a bit like apples and oranges. --
How often for example does a scientist revise his opinion/belief in the face of data that does not support his pet theories. Now how often does a religious type do the same. You'll find more often than not the believer will not - just dismiss the contradiction entirely, while the scientist will bitch and moan, but will either dismiss the theory or considerably revise it to accommodate the data. On Fri, May 28, 2010 at 5:09 PM, Maureen <[email protected]> wrote: > > I was educated to be a scientist, and I opted out of academia and > scientific research because I found too many scientists who are as > dogmatic in their belief in science as theologians are of their belief > in religion. That is the root of the problem. > > On Fri, May 28, 2010 at 1:53 PM, Larry C. Lyons <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Within the scientific community, there has been substantial debate >> over how best to deal with the public's refusal to accept basic >> scientific findings, with different camps arguing for increasing >> scientific literacy, challenging beliefs, or emphasizing the >> compatibility between belief and science. > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology-Michael-Dinowitz/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:319719 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
