Why is science demonized in people's minds?

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Humility and self-doubt has their place, but not in fields where you have the facts on your side. I have no qualms about appearing arrogant or as a "bad person" if I feel the need to lecture someone on science because I'm right, they are wrong and they need to l2R (learn to read).

Umm, I don't care whether a person is right if not, if they are being condescending I will treat them the same way. I may inside know they are right but I will still throw all the same attitude back at them.

I don't know if this makes me a bad person, but seriously, people need to learn that people don't appreciate condescending attitudes like "they need to l2R".

I don't even care if a person is right or not, I pay attention to the way they act, the way they behave the way they treat others. To me this is much more important.

If the person is being hateful and mean due to ignorance, then you should mirror that hatefulness, but if a person is simply expressing ignorance due to lack of knowledge, I think the proper response is to show a little humility.

You should be asking why are there so many NTs relative to Aspies.

Well... why not?

I think I understand you a little better now, the whole "l2R" thing is what I use as a response to frustration with the ignorance of someone. I'm happy to explain things to people who want to learn, but people who scream their opinions need to be shut down with facts whenever possible.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft and many others like him have long said that there is no recognizable divine presence, such as a god, in the universe, and that humans are particularly insignificant in the larger scheme of intergalactic existence, and perhaps are just a small species projecting their own mental idolatries onto the vast cosmos, ever susceptible to being wiped from existence at any moment.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft died when he was only 46 but based on his literature, he clearly was an atheist.

You can read more about Howard Phillips Lovecraft and his philosophy of cosmicism in Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._P._Lovecraft

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmicism

Lovecraft makes a lot of sense in his philosophy, there is definitely an argument to be made that the supernatural are manifestations of human insecurities that we hold on to in order to console ourselves. If you think about it, "god" has a tendency to be a protective father figure, that much like a real father supposedly protects you and loves you. If one believes in this, it could possibly allow a person to accept atrocities because "god knows what he's doing" rather than having to accept "X just happened for no reason what so ever".

I don't think science itself is demonized.

What get demonized by some are the philosophical schools of universal positivism and universal physicalism. It's really the latter that's deeply unnerving to most everybody that tries to truly confront it. Nobody want's to believe that they are simply a giant collection of perpetual chemical reactions and that the entirety of their thoughts and inner experience, including their most deeply held emotions, beliefs, and convictions, can be reduced to electro-chemical signals bouncing to and fro in their head. People are also freaked out by sociological implications of "innatism" (i.e. that people's behavior and personality is largely a product of their physical genetic makeup) because it seems to conflict with the internal notion of "free-will" that most of our moral/social reasoning seemingly depends on.

I'm claiming all these issues are philosophical rather than scientific in nature. It's just that these philosophies are seen as the foundation of scientific reasoning. I'm not sure I fully agree. The process of scientific discovery will go on regardless.

Yes.

As a father, wouldn't you reach down and feed your children at any cost to yourself?

So how can you forgive an omnipotent being that allows his children to starve to death, get sick and die from preventable diseases, or be raped and murdered in their millions?

How do you maintain your christian moral position and forgive such behaviour from your 'saviour' ?

I think that science is demonized because the vast majority of people do not understand it, and people have a natural tendency to denigrate things they don't understand. I think that one of the prime modern-day examples is global warming. For example, approximately 50% of the U.S. public believes global warming is real and caused by human activity, while the scientific community is essentially unanimous in agreement on the issue. The science, data, and facts are completely the same, but when viewed by people who have absolutely no scientific background or understanding the conclusions reached are completely different. Without an understanding of both the scientific process as well as the underlying principles, it is incredibly easy for someone to simply say "Nothing is 100% certain, so all science has room for doubt, and therefore may be wrong". While it is true that there is always uncertainty), it is not true that this uncertainty invalidates science in any way, and science actually accounts for it (often with painful detail).

As an example, let's say hypothetically that the entire theory of gravity is false and we have to completely re-evaluate everything we know about it. That still wouldn't stop all of the equations we've already developed with respect to gravity from being valid, and you could still predict with extreme accuracy the free-fall velocity and acceleration of a ball falling off a building. Hope that that made some sort of sense lol, I'm kind of tired.

Theists do not possess the intellect to understand how odd and complicated God's creation is or they are afraid to really learn that, utlimately, humanity is a very small fish in a very, very big ocean and that God has no more (or less) affection for us than She does for, say, an earthworm.

Last edited by Tom5 on 07 Mar 2012, 12:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Because lots of times scientists are very arrogant and find joy in disproving other peoples beliefs? I don't know, science isn't really demonized.

I think you have a point here, it's rare that I meet a theist who actually understands the implications of their proposition.

The Universe of the Bible is quaint and small. The Universe revealed by science is vast and amazingly complicated.

ruveyn

To OP: Only normals and sub-normals demonize science. They are not intelligent enough to understand the obvious superiority of the Scientific Method to their superstitions and

myths.

Actually, I've met some exceptionally intelligent people who were simply deluded in their belief of the alleged "evils" of science. Unfortunately, more than a few of them are either governmental bureaucrats or career politicians.