On Wed, 20 Feb 2002, jim clark wrote:
> Hi
>
> On Wed, 20 Feb 2002, Louis_Schmier wrote:
>
> > On Wed, 20 Feb 2002, jim clark wrote:
> > >
> > > No, dudes like Einstein do not believe in a personal god.
> > > Einstein did not, and 80% (or so) of high-status scientists do
> > > not.
> >
> > First, the fact that whatever 80% of High-status scientists--whatever
> > that means--believe or don't believe doesn't exactly mean anything.
>
> First, I am not the one who cited Einstein's belief in god, which
> was incorrect. Second, it means that surveys of scientists with
> some indicator of special respect among their peers tend to be
> agnostic or atheistic. Why that "doesn't exactly mean
> anything" is not obvious to me.
Well, why is that particularly important. It certainly does reflect the
legitimacy or illegitimacy of their position, that is, doesn't prove the
existence or non-existence of God. Someone once said, "God gave man a
mind to doubt Him."As for Einstein not believing in God, it's not an
either/or. To say that Einstein did not believe is playing with the dead.
As he wrote, he believed in "Spinoza's God" who, if my memory serves me
correctly, reveals himself in the harmony of all that exists. It is not
the anthropomorphosed God.
>
> >
> > A better question would be why more religious types don't
> > > follow the excellent example of Einstein and other highly
> > > intelligent, scientifically-minded people.
> >
> > Not exactly respectful or objective. So, scientifically-minded people
> > shouldn't believe in a personal god? I think Hume and Popper would take
> > you on with this one.
>
> There is no "should" or "shouldn't" in my statement. I was
> stating an observed negative relationship between being a
> practitioner of science and being religious, and then simply
> wondering why a group of people who hold great respect for
> eminent scientists (e.g., Einstein, Darwin, ...) would not follow
> their lead in this respect as well. As to Hume and Popper, I
> cannot say for sure, but suspect that if one looks at eminent
> philosophers one also might find a high degree of disbelief
> ... Bertrand Russell comes readily to mind, of course.
Well, you can find whatever and whomever you are looking for. Russell was
much closer to Popper than he was to Wittenstein and the Vienna School.
But, when you're talking about David Hume, you are talking about the
greatest philosopher of the 18th century, and when you are talking about
Karl Popper, you're talking about the greatest philosopher of
science in the twentieth century. Not bad.
Make it a good day.
--Louis--
Louis Schmier www.therandomthoughts.com
Department of History www.halcyon.com/arborhts/louis.html
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, GA 31698 /~\ /\ /\
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