Page 1 of 2 [ 28 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

lucgn01
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

Joined: 4 Jun 2019
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Posts: 74
Location: Los Angeles, California

29 Jun 2019, 4:47 pm

Just as a heads up, while I currently identify as Christian I am completely open to all views. This is meant as a purely innocent question to satiate my curiosity. I've heard many spiritual-minded people refer to science as a religion of sorts. While this can be meant in a neutral way, it's often used as a way to, for lack of a better term, "attack" those who can't imagine anything existing outside of the material world. Obviously, science is crucial for humanity's continued existence, but it got me thinking. Could science be referred to as a religion, or is it the opposite of religion in every way?



TheRevengeofTW1ZTY
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 23 Apr 2019
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,102
Location: Um...

29 Jun 2019, 4:50 pm

I think of it more as a practice.


_________________
The Hearts teach us to feel pleasure and pain.
The Diamonds teach us to enjoy that we gain.
The Clubs teach us to work the goals we aim.
The Spades teach us to conquer all we claim.


kraftiekortie
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 4 Feb 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 87,510
Location: Queens, NYC

29 Jun 2019, 5:20 pm

It could acquire the fanaticism of some religions.



Prometheus18
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Aug 2018
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,866

29 Jun 2019, 5:29 pm



TwilightPrincess
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 28 Sep 2016
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Posts: 20,165
Location: Hell

29 Jun 2019, 5:32 pm

It depends. Sometimes I tell people that I’m a devout atheist, but it’s just for the laughs.


_________________
“We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake...by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us even in our soundest sleep.”
Walden


TheRevengeofTW1ZTY
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 23 Apr 2019
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,102
Location: Um...

29 Jun 2019, 5:32 pm

If it was a religion what would they call it? 'Scientology'? :lol:


_________________
The Hearts teach us to feel pleasure and pain.
The Diamonds teach us to enjoy that we gain.
The Clubs teach us to work the goals we aim.
The Spades teach us to conquer all we claim.


AprilR
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 8 Apr 2016
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,518

29 Jun 2019, 5:38 pm

I think it's not science but materialism can be considered a religion. Since it's a "belief" that matter is the source of all creation.
Science itself doesn't concern itself with beliefs. Scientists can have many different beliefs.



LoveNotHate
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 Oct 2013
Gender: Female
Posts: 6,195
Location: USA

29 Jun 2019, 5:56 pm

TheRevengeofTW1ZTY wrote:
I think of it more as a practice.

Like, "the science of religion".

sci·ence (/ˈsīəns/) The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.


_________________
After a failure, the easiest thing to do is to blame someone else.


naturalplastic
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Age: 69
Gender: Male
Posts: 33,881
Location: temperate zone

29 Jun 2019, 6:06 pm

Like religion science is a "cognative system". A "way of knowing".

But science is not itself a "religion". It concerns itself with the questions of what? and how? but not the "why?". Not concerned with meaning.

Science is a self correcting endeavor involving experiment and observation, and does rely on faith quite the same way that religion relies on faith.



Mountain Goat
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 13 May 2019
Gender: Male
Posts: 14,202
Location: .

29 Jun 2019, 6:49 pm

It depends how one looks at it. The grey areas in science which do take a little faith to believe... Well, these areas one can view science as a religion, so technically one can view science from either angle.
One thing we often tend to forget are the many different views within science itself in regards to the grey areas. For example. There is no universal view if one asks a question like does a being we call "God" exist? We will have scientists from both ends of the spectrum all debating and stating their beliefs.

One of my hobbies is that I like model railways. Now within such forum debates, I can call my little locomotives toys or models, and in a way it is in the eyes of the one who views them. And to me it does not matter, as I will enjoy my hobby regardless.


_________________
.


Last edited by Mountain Goat on 29 Jun 2019, 6:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

TheRevengeofTW1ZTY
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 23 Apr 2019
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,102
Location: Um...

29 Jun 2019, 6:53 pm

Scientists can actually be religious or non-religous.


_________________
The Hearts teach us to feel pleasure and pain.
The Diamonds teach us to enjoy that we gain.
The Clubs teach us to work the goals we aim.
The Spades teach us to conquer all we claim.


Mountain Goat
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 13 May 2019
Gender: Male
Posts: 14,202
Location: .

29 Jun 2019, 6:59 pm

TheRevengeofTW1ZTY wrote:
Scientists can actually be religious or non-religous.


They will be scientists enjoying their work regardless of how science is classed. :)


_________________
.


cyberdad
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Feb 2011
Age: 56
Gender: Male
Posts: 34,150

29 Jun 2019, 7:10 pm

naturalplastic wrote:
Like religion science is a "cognative system". A "way of knowing".


As an ex-scientist I would say religion is a system of cognitive beliefs based on oral tradition or scriptures either divinely inspired or purportedly written by god. At some point a human is the bringer of this tradition and they can be refereed to as prophets or messiahs.

There is also spirituality and philosophy which includes animism, hinduism and buddhism which can be described more as a way of life.

What makes the above different from science is it's reliance on belief/faith and adherence or obedience to ritual.

Science is an approach taken to remove bias in order seek patterns of truth that can be described through observation. Methods to test the veracity of observation can utilise experimental design to demonstrate repeatable support for observations that are then used to support existing or new theories regarding the nature of our universe (whether biological or physical).

In Law observation is sufficient to demonstrate truth where a person's testimony is considered sufficient where a judge or jury consider the evidence presented plausible (although as we know this prone to subjective bias). The legal system thus also operates on scientific approach.



Fnord
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 May 2008
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Posts: 59,750
Location: Stendec

29 Jun 2019, 7:39 pm

Science is the on-going study of reality through experimentation and observation for the purpose of increasing human knowledge. Science has no punitive aspect when mistakes are made, only correction. Science flies people to the Moon.

Religion is the on-going effort to keep people ignorant and easily controlled by imposing rules on thought, speech, and behavior. Religion imposes correction through punishment of in both this life and the next. Religion flies people into buildings.


_________________
 
No love for Hamas, Hezbollah, Iranian Leadership, Islamic Jihad, other Islamic terrorist groups, OR their supporters and sympathizers.


naturalplastic
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Age: 69
Gender: Male
Posts: 33,881
Location: temperate zone

29 Jun 2019, 7:43 pm

Mountain Goat wrote:
It depends how one looks at it. The grey areas in science which do take a little faith to believe... Well, these areas one can view science as a religion, so technically one can view science from either angle.
One thing we often tend to forget are the many different views within science itself in regards to the grey areas. For example. There is no universal view if one asks a question like does a being we call "God" exist? We will have scientists from both ends of the spectrum all debating and stating their beliefs.

One of my hobbies is that I like model railways. Now within such forum debates, I can call my little locomotives toys or models, and in a way it is in the eyes of the one who views them. And to me it does not matter, as I will enjoy my hobby regardless.


None of this has anything to do with the question of whether or not "science is a religion". The fact that scientists don't agree on some things makes science less like a religion (in religion everyone is supposed to follow a single rigid dogma) and not more like a religion.

And God is metaphysical, and not physical. Science doesn't even address the issue of theology anyway.



cyberdad
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Feb 2011
Age: 56
Gender: Male
Posts: 34,150

29 Jun 2019, 7:46 pm

Fnord wrote:
Religion imposes correction through punishment of in both this life and the next.


Yes of course...religion requires reinforcement based on fear....