>scientific process, but that's really a different use of the word. A farmer
>who has faith in his plow-horse is not stating a religious preference. He
>will accept it when his plow-horse fails him just as the scientist will
>accept it when his tools fail him. Religious faith however is a different
>story.
Jim,
I understand your view point. And quite frankly it is one I am very
comfortable with. There have been a lot of posts in this thread so I
wouldn't be surprised if you didn't read all of them. But in one of the
posts I did write that the faith used in religion is different then the
faith used in science.
First of all the pursuit of science may or may not require faith. That is
really up to the scientist in question. More over religion does not
require faith despite what everyone says. This has been well covered by
Kant who wrote Religion Within Reason Alone. My politics professor used to
joke around that anyone who could finish this text should be conferred
"Mental Giant" status. I believe that anyone who can actually finish this
text has too much time.
But in today's popular religion, the normal church going people, faith is
heavily stressed and is in all practical sense a necessary component in
practicing almost all the major religions. But similarly, for your average
person to accept science as even a best guess that describes a certain
natural phenomena - that requires faith on their part too. Perhaps I'm
being too arrogant, but I don't think many people can understand in depth
even the most common scientific laws. You think you understand General
Relativity? I just had lunch with two very intelligent engineers over the
weekend. We were talking about their alma mater, Cooper Union. They told
me the hardest class they took was General Relativity. They told me there
was consensus among their peers that this was one of, if not, the most
difficult topic they covered at their undergraduate studies. The physics
you learn even in college? You are really taking certain things at face
value because there is no way a general physics class could even really
scratch the surface of GR.
So tell me this. Do you, personally, believe in GR? If so can you,
personally prove it? If you do believe in GR but can't personally prove it
why do you accept it?
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