paarsurrey
Veteran Member
Science is a tool for exploring in the physical and material; could be used by the Theists and the Atheists alike. It is not concerned with the belief of the user.
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Does science support Atheism, positively?
- Thread starter paarsurrey
- Start date
Science is a tool for exploring in the physical and material; could be used by the Theists and the Atheists alike. It is not concerned with the belief of the user.
Gjallarhorn
N'yog-Sothep
Unless your beliefs serve an an unqualified assumption in the research process.
See "Quranic science" for examples.
Gordian Knot
Being Deviant IS My Art.
In my opinion, science neither supports or denies atheism. Atheism is a disbelief in the existence of supernatural beings. Or, the more politically correct definition now, it is a belief there is no evidence for supernatural beings. Whatever. Science does not support atheism. Nor does it deny atheism.
The only real correlation I believe can be made is that a far larger percentage of scientists are atheists as compared to the percentage of other groups.
The only real correlation I believe can be made is that a far larger percentage of scientists are atheists as compared to the percentage of other groups.
paarsurrey
Veteran Member
Such as
That the world is explainable and explained within the context of sciencific theory.
factseeker88
factseeker88
No way to prove religion either ...
As for science supporting religion, I doubt it. One is belief and the other substance.
What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is WHAT WE DO. John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)
William Marques
Member
In my opinion, Science doesnt support Atheism and doesnt support God also. Therefore, Science and religion are converging and God will common sense to the both in the future.
William Marques
William Marques
Magic Man
Reaper of Conversation
Science does support atheism. Atheism is the absence of belief in theistic gods, or if you'd rather, the assumption that such gods don't exist. Everything we know from science shows us a universe where gods are unnecessary and unlikely. It does not disprove a theistic god, but it does support the nonexistence of one.
In science you start with a hypothesis, and then test it to see whether it holds up. If it doesn't hold up, you either discard it or tweak it and then retest. If it really isn't supported at all, you, for all intents and purposes, assume it's not the case. For instance, you could have the hypothesis "People with more than 10 toes are faster than the average human". You could then test it by timing people with more than 10 toes and comparing to the average human. If tests didn't result in support for the hypothesis, it would be dismissed and assuming not to be true.
With God, of course, we can't test the general hypothesis "God exists". We'd have to narrow it down. Atheists generally really only fully dismiss theistic gods, which have certain traits we can actually test. Once we test them and find no evidence to support them, we can safely assume the claims about that god, and therefore its existence, aren't true, even if we can't rule it out with 100% certainty.
In science you start with a hypothesis, and then test it to see whether it holds up. If it doesn't hold up, you either discard it or tweak it and then retest. If it really isn't supported at all, you, for all intents and purposes, assume it's not the case. For instance, you could have the hypothesis "People with more than 10 toes are faster than the average human". You could then test it by timing people with more than 10 toes and comparing to the average human. If tests didn't result in support for the hypothesis, it would be dismissed and assuming not to be true.
With God, of course, we can't test the general hypothesis "God exists". We'd have to narrow it down. Atheists generally really only fully dismiss theistic gods, which have certain traits we can actually test. Once we test them and find no evidence to support them, we can safely assume the claims about that god, and therefore its existence, aren't true, even if we can't rule it out with 100% certainty.
It's not so much that science supports atheism as much as God is irrelevant to science. As Laplace said when asked by Napoleon why his book didn't make reference to God, "I had no need for that hypothesis."
paarsurrey
Veteran Member
Then why seek a scientific proof of God?
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Gjallarhorn
N'yog-Sothep
Who's been doing that?
Call_of_the_Wild
Well-Known Member
Huh? Science doesn't even support naturalism positively, and naturalism is the view that nature is all there is in reality, and that in itself cannot be scientifically proven. So the answer is......NO
paarsurrey
Veteran Member
Religion and science work in different orbits or spheres; one does not collide with other if correctly understood.
Regards
DeepShadow
White Crow
There have been many scientific studies that inform upon theological/religious questions, but none that can prove a theistic or atheistic worldview.
For example:
Attributions of free will
"God" as an extension of social sense
Measuring the power of forgiveness
Autism/low ToM may lead to a diminished sense of God
While any of the above may change how we see religious belief, this is different from proving or disproving the basic CLAIMS of religion, such as the existence of a deity. Of course, the existence of a deity may actually be incidental to the benefits of a religion, as some of the above show (one of the reasons I'll never be an atheist, even if I lost my testimony).
I agree. They are non-overlapping magisteria.
For example:
Attributions of free will
"God" as an extension of social sense
Measuring the power of forgiveness
Autism/low ToM may lead to a diminished sense of God
While any of the above may change how we see religious belief, this is different from proving or disproving the basic CLAIMS of religion, such as the existence of a deity. Of course, the existence of a deity may actually be incidental to the benefits of a religion, as some of the above show (one of the reasons I'll never be an atheist, even if I lost my testimony).
I agree. They are non-overlapping magisteria.
paarsurrey
Veteran Member
paarsurrey
Veteran Member
Think what happens anytime humans get too much knowledge and power, when we get too big for our own britches. Science being able to confirm the source of creation is a scary thought.
Oppenheimer was dead on when quoting the Gita "Now, I am become death, destroyer of worlds." And that's just from figuring out a freaking atom.
paarsurrey
Veteran Member
Please paraphrase your viewpoint. It is not clear to men.
Regards
Milton Platt
Well-Known Member
There you go being correct again....