Will science ever overtake religion?

[HappytheStripper]

Actually, science is more of a language...

 

Science is I will say again - one word - defining a study of .. go find a dictionary ..

 

Language is simply a system of communication ..

 

http://www.answers.com/language

[Eclogite]

Or, a methodology.

[Saitia]

Humanity will surge ahead and reach heights unimagined as a species once the species can throw off the shackles of dogma and mysticism - the relics and artifacts of our ignorant past.

Not "past" enough; dogma and mysticism continue to plague society in general every bit as much as they plague religion. The curse of ignorance is that the ignorant are ignorant of their ignorance; and that's just as true for scientists as it is for religionists.

 

 

We are unwilling to accept the obvious, and face reality, because of the weight of generations of self-deception and delusions weighing down upon us.

I don't think so. For instance, you don't face the reality that God created the universe and all that's in it because you lack understanding of spirit reality; not because of the relative errors of cosmological thinking—heavy or not— of our forebearers.

 

Of course Religion is real - after all, your parents owned up to Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, but they still insist on God being real. So, why should you call your parents liars?

They "insist" God is real because they know he's real. To call them liars not only proves your ignorance to them, but causes them the pain of knowing their offspring has no self-respect.

 

Would the non-existence of God be the final nasty surprise?

Only to be exposed on your deathbed?

What difference does it make to an atheist?

If death is the end of your personal being and consciousness—

and you're betting it is— you'll never know the answer.:shrug:

But if death is a transition to a higher level of existence,

then it's a joyous and enlightening surprise, one you won't

forget even in eternity.

 

Face facts, face reality.

Learn the truth; the truth will set you free.

[HappytheStripper]

Not "past" enough; dogma and mysticism continue to plague society in general every bit as much as they plague religion. The curse of ignorance is that the ignorant are ignorant of their ignorance; and that's just as true for scientists as it is for religionists.

 

I agree with this ..

 

Learn the truth; the truth will set you free.

 

The truth being within the self .. a knowledge of the self .. freedom is a state of being ..

[IDMclean]

learn the truth and it will set you free, speak the truth and your words will be free, percieve the truth and your senses will be free.

 

Be the truth and all shall be free.

[InfiniteNow]

Language is simply a system of communication ..

 

They are not mutually exclusive...

 

.. go find a dictionary ..

 

Okay... found a couple of 'em:

 

Dictionary.com:

1. The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena.
   
2. Such activities restricted to a class of natural phenomena.
   
3. Such activities applied to an object of inquiry or study.
   
4. Methodological activity, discipline, or study: I've got packing a suitcase down to a science.
   
5. An activity that appears to require study and method: the science of purchasing.
   
6. Knowledge,especially that gained through experience.

 

Merriam-Websters:

1 : the state of knowing : knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or misunderstanding

2 a : a department of systematized knowledge as an object of study <the science of theology> b : something (as a sport or technique) that may be studied or learned like systematized knowledge <have it down to a science>

3 a : knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific method b : such knowledge or such a system of knowledge concerned with the physical world and its phenomena : NATURAL SCIENCE

4 : a system or method reconciling practical ends with scientific laws <culinary science>

 

Encyclopedia Britannica:

any system of knowledge that is concerned with the physical world and its phenomena and that entails unbiased observations and systematic experimentation. In general, a science involves a pursuit of knowledge covering general truths or the operations of fundamental laws.

 

 

Wikipedia:

Science (from Latin scientia - knowledge) refers to the system of acquiring knowledge – based on empiricism, experimentation, and methodological naturalism. The term science also refers to the organized body of knowledge humans have gained by such research.

 

 

However, inspiring my post was a show by Carl Sagan, called COSMOS. I recall him making that exact statement in the program. He is quoted elsewhere as follows:

 

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.

 

I find much interest in the following well-articulated point:

 

Think of how many religions attempt to validate themselves with prophecy. Think of how many people rely on these prophecies, however vague, however unfulfilled, to support or prop up their beliefs. Yet has there ever been a religion with the prophetic accuracy and reliability of science?

 

 

Cheers. :shrug:

[Saitia]

Science is basically learning from experience. It's widespread behaviour among animals, it was employed long before religion and will be long after religion.

 

Do you mean to say that a bunch of monkeys do science?

/forums/images/smilies/banana_sign.gif

[InfiniteNow]

Do you mean to say that a bunch of monkeys do science?

/forums/images/smilies/banana_sign.gif

 

Actually, monkeys have tails. We descended from apes.

 

 

Cheers. :shrug:

[HappytheStripper]

InfinteNow .. I call truce .. You are clearly better informed than me and I have yet to review COSMOS .. you are the second person .. has mentioned that to me today .. :shrug: I think I better go take a look ..

 

hehehehe .. (",) cheers

 

Trashley

[ughaibu]

Saitia: Once again, my post was very simple, I'm surprised that you have problems understanding it. Read it again.

[Saitia]

Saitia: Once again, my post was very simple, I'm surprised that you have problems understanding it. Read it again.

 

Were you born without a sense of humor or did you have it surgically removed? :evil:

[Boerseun]

Do you mean to say that a bunch of monkeys do science?

/forums/images/smilies/banana_sign.gif

Actually, yes, they do.

 

It has been well-documented how chimps (apes, okay...) employ a certain problem-solving methodology to achieve specific results that is akin to what we'd call the 'scientific method'. Hanging a banana from the ceiling, with a load of random things like chairs and tables lying around the room, the chimp would ponder the problem and start rearranging the furniture in order to reach the banana. This gives certain results - if not successful, the chimp will try another configuration. This implies experimentation and forethought. Once a proper configuration of tables and chairs have been reached which gives the ape access to the banana, and the room is rearranged again, and another banana hung in the same spot, the chimp won't experiment again - he'll simply rearrange the room in the way it worked last time. This clearly states that he learnt from his previous experiments, and the results thereof. There is nothing mystical here, it's simply how learning is achieved. The scientific method is simply a better documented way of us doing exactly the same thing the chimp was doing in the above example.

[Eclogite]

Were you born without a sense of humor or did you have it surgically removed? :hihi:

Demonstrations of talking ebony cooking ware will be held in the refectory this afternoon.

[Saitia]

Actually, yes, they do. It has been well-documented how chimps (apes, okay...) employ a certain problem-solving methodology to achieve specific results that is akin to what we'd call the 'scientific method'. . . .The scientific method is simply a better documented way of us doing exactly the same thing the chimp was doing in the above example.

Nice dye job. ;)

Yep, an animal learns to examine different ways of attaining a goal and select the best approach based on accumulated experience. But a human can also examine the goal itself and decide if it's worth-while; if it has value. In other words, intelligence alone can discriminate as to the best means of attaining indiscriminate ends, but a moral being can discriminate between ends as well as between means. A human knows what he is doing, why he is doing it, where he is going, and how he will get there. A monkey does not.

[InfiniteNow]

A human knows what he is doing, why he is doing it, where he is going, and how he will get there. A monkey does not.

 

I would like to see support for the above claim. What is the evidence for such an assertion?

[ughaibu]

I would expect a chimp to have an olfactory advantage over a human when it comes to assessing the worth of a banana on the ceiling.

[Jules Grimm]

Ah, but i think the question now should be (to be relevant to the original question): Does the monkey follow a God / higher being apart from the god of bananas?

 

Just in case anyone didnt get it - this was intended to be a joke since some people seem to have a sense of humour while others seem to have been exceptionally caring and have sent theirs on an extended holiday :)