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.