Hello all, Unfortunately, I'm on the fence, perhaps weak agnostic is the proper term. I believe the question that's being discussed is a personal one for all of us. There is no side or stance or belief that should hold sway. Darwin spent a very long time trying to figure out if religion and science could coexist. For John Muir religion, science, and nature were intertwined, part of the same fabric. Many of our best scientists view the exquisite complexity their work has uncovered as evidence of God, others have reached exactly the opposite conclusion. We scientists understand that the term science is a rather large umbrella, and we need to come to an understanding that the same is true for religion. In parting, whether ye be scientist or clergyman, a closed mind is not a scientific mind. In my experience the former are often more dogmatic than the latter.
Kevin On Sun, May 23, 2010 at 5:00 AM, William Silvert <[email protected]>wrote: > This posting has been nagging at me for a couple of days, since it could be > rephrased as "Experimental science is about answering the questions of what, > where, when and how. Theoretical science tries to address the question of > why." Of course theorists seek mechanisms rather than Deus ex Machina, but > still theory, like religion, seeks to understand why nature is the way it > is. Of course this runs the risk of assuming supernatural knowledge, which > is presumably why Newton said "Hypotheses non fingo", but humans seem to > have a need to understand the WHY and are not satisfied with simply a > detailed description. > > So both theoretical science and religion try to address the question of > why, but in different ways. Which gets us back to the original question of > compatibility between science and religion! > > Bill Silvert > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Warren W. Aney" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: sexta-feira, 21 de Maio de 2010 5:08 > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Science and Religion Dogmatic conflict? > > > There's an old saying, and it's probably already been brought up, that >> science is about answering the questions of what, where, when and how. >> Religion tries to address the question of why. >> >> Warren W. Aney >> >
