RE: On the Success of Scientific Theories
March 25, 2015 at 4:47 am
(This post was last modified: March 25, 2015 at 4:48 am by BrianSoddingBoru4.)
The great advantage (well, one of the many) that science has over religion is that science is provisionally true Any and all of our best supported and most predicative theories can be amended or - what is less likely - discarded in the face of new facts or theories that more accurately explain the world around us. Scientists and other sensible people are almost always delighted to find a new way of looking at things, or better explanations for observed phenomena.
Religion, on the other foot, makes claims to ultimate truth. Religious notions (I hesitate to call them 'theories') may change, but the change is often laborious and painful - in a very literal sense. In the event that a religious view does change, you never see religionists jumping up and down saying, 'Huzzah! I learned something new, so I'll discard that old idea I had.' Religions tend to be calcified in their official line to the point where it is almost always anathema to even look for better answers or explanations.
This isn't to say that religiously-minded individuals haven't made contributions to science - it is clear that they have. But this is almost always done in spite religious dogma, not because of it. And religious innovators in the sciences almost always get themselves into trouble. Actually scientists who contribute to human knowledge tend to get prizes.
Says a lot, dunnit?
Boru
Religion, on the other foot, makes claims to ultimate truth. Religious notions (I hesitate to call them 'theories') may change, but the change is often laborious and painful - in a very literal sense. In the event that a religious view does change, you never see religionists jumping up and down saying, 'Huzzah! I learned something new, so I'll discard that old idea I had.' Religions tend to be calcified in their official line to the point where it is almost always anathema to even look for better answers or explanations.
This isn't to say that religiously-minded individuals haven't made contributions to science - it is clear that they have. But this is almost always done in spite religious dogma, not because of it. And religious innovators in the sciences almost always get themselves into trouble. Actually scientists who contribute to human knowledge tend to get prizes.
Says a lot, dunnit?
Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson
