(September 7, 2014 at 11:25 am)Diablo Wrote: I suppose if you take all the theoretical musings out of it, science works most of the time. I have hypertension and if I'd lived fifty years ago I would have died young. I take 2 pills a day and I still breath thanks to science.
Science has made us live longer and better, which religion never did. We don't have to cower in the face of a vicious god and we don't have to slaughter each other in his name either.
The next time you decry science try living without it.
I acknowledge that in the short term we perceive knowledge and technology as delivering progress, but that this should translate into species progress cannot be substantiated. Religion and the social structures around it almost certainly improved the lives of its followers, there are studies that demonstrate empirical evidence that 'belief' has a positive effect on people. If you do not believe in a deity then you cannot believe god is vicious, only people are vicious and that hasn't changed.
As I said at the beginning I'm not anti-science, I'm not going to debate that with you.
MM
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions" - Leonardo da Vinci
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
