July 17, 200917 yr We generally regard scientists as very intelligent people...yet 93% are atheist or agnostic. If these scientists are so intelligent why do the majority have a disbelief in god? Would a mod please edit my thread title to say "Why are 93% of scientists atheist or agnostic"? I didn't finish typing before I posted. Thanks.
July 17, 200917 yr I would guess it is because scientists base their work and research on theories that can be proven to be fact and religion is largely based on faith.
July 17, 200917 yr Good question. Perhaps a scientist would be better suited to answer since I hardly know any "scientists". Either way, the area of science has little to do with religion. Science is about the natural, not the supernatural or supranatural. Science is not looking to prove or disprove the existence of an intelligent creator. Philosophy is a more relevant discipline.
July 17, 200917 yr Author Good question. Perhaps a scientist would be better suited to answer since I hardly know any "scientists". Either way, the area of science has little to do with religion. Science is about the natural, not the supernatural or supranatural. Science is not looking to prove or disprove the existence of an intelligent creator. Philosophy is a more relevant discipline. The works of Darwin counter many people's beliefs in religion. Dawkins has went out of his way to disprove the existence of an intelligent creator. C'mon cch, I have a hard time believing that an intelligent person as yourself has not wondered why so many "great minds" do not share your belief in god.
July 17, 200917 yr The works of Darwin counter many people's beliefs in religion. Dawkins has went out of his way to disprove the existence of an intelligent creator. C'mon cch, I have a hard time believing that an intelligent person as yourself has not wondered why so many "great minds" do not share your belief in god. I'm a believer in evolution and of course in science, but I can say that I don't think scientists (biologists, physics, chemists, ect.) have any advantage in the field of philosophy over anyone else, and the question of God is a more philosophical question then scientific (because science isn't related to questions beyond the natural). I haven't read extensively about Darwin, but I've done quite a bit of reading on his mini-me Dawkins and I've come to believe that his God-less universe is impossible (although of course Dawkins would say "highly improbable", ironically, as an atheist who refuses to admit anything is impossible). And if you don't use God with a capital G then I'm going to come to Louisville and hit you over the head with a Bible.
July 17, 200917 yr Author I'm a believer in evolution and of course in science, but I can say that I don't think scientists (biologists, physics, chemists, ect.) have any advantage in the field of philosophy over anyone else, and the question of God is a more philosophical question then scientific (because science isn't related to questions beyond the natural). And if you don't use God with a capital G then I'm going to come to Louisville and hit you over the head with a Bible. If God is real couldn't science prove it then? They can prove other supposed mysteries such as gravity....why not God? To me the question of God is both a scientific and philosophical question. Oops...I usually do. But you better watch out, I have one too and will swing back, lol!
July 17, 200917 yr If God is real couldn't science prove it then? They can prove other supposed mysteries such as gravity....why not God? To me the question of God is both a scientific and philosophical question. Oops...I usually do. But you better watch out, I have one too and will swing back, lol! No, because by definition having faith in something means you believe in it even when it's not provable. If God was scientifically provable then there would be no need for faith. The very nature of God makes Him/Her unprovable in human terms.
July 17, 200917 yr If God is real couldn't science prove it then? They can prove other supposed mysteries such as gravity....why not God? To me the question of God is both a scientific and philosophical question. Oops...I usually do. But you better watch out, I have one too and will swing back, lol! No...gravity is natural. God is beyond the natural. It sounds like a copout, but I'm not saying that it is impossible to prove God's existence. It is, just not through science- through philosophy.
July 17, 200917 yr Author No...gravity is natural. God is beyond the natural. It sounds like a copout, but I'm not saying that it is impossible to prove God's existence. It is, just not through science- through philosophy.How can you prove it philosophically?
July 17, 200917 yr Author No...gravity is natural. God is beyond the natural. It sounds like a copout, but I'm not saying that it is impossible to prove God's existence. It is, just not through science- through philosophy.It seems like God made it pretty easy for himself. I'm real and no I don't have to prove it because I'm beyond proof. What other instance in life would this work?
July 17, 200917 yr The works of Darwin counter many people's beliefs in religion. Dawkins has went out of his way to disprove the existence of an intelligent creator. C'mon cch, I have a hard time believing that an intelligent person as yourself has not wondered why so many "great minds" do not share your belief in god. I don't believe any science counters religious beliefs. Much of Darwin's work is theory. It is not fact, despite frequently being presented as so. The assumptions that have to be made to believe in evolution require a much bigger leap of faith than believing in God. Why do the majority of scientists deny the existence of God? I don't know. But, I have a feeling the answer to that question may be more philosophical than scientific.
July 17, 200917 yr How can you prove it philosophically? Here is a few arguments, upon only one of which you touched upon
July 17, 200917 yr Author I don't believe any science counters religious beliefs. Much of Darwin's work is theory. It is not fact, despite frequently being presented as so. The assumptions that have to be made to believe in evolution require a much bigger leap of faith than believing in God. Why do the majority of scientists deny the existence of God? I don't know. But, I have a feeling the answer to that question may be more philosophical than scientific. You caught my attention there. At the very least there is rudimentary scientific evidence of evolution. Without any evidence, to me, the belief in God is solely defined in faith.
July 17, 200917 yr It seems like God made it pretty easy for himself. I'm real and no I don't have to prove it because I'm beyond proof. What other instance in life would this work? I'm not entirely sure exactly what you are asking with that last question, but I think this may be relevant....if you remember this thread: It is a bad scientist who says that nothing can possibly orbit Jupiter when the means of discovery are absent—when there is simply no telescope by which to check (the naked eye being deficient). It is a bad scientist who says that metal is not crystalline when the fact is that there is no microscope fit to show its structure (the light microscope being deficient). Maybe what the nay-sayers ought to do is to stop pronouncing in the absence of evidence and start looking for new instruments by which to get some. That is science. Modern science, especially, advances by the discovery of new means by which to acquire what is, to be sure, also concrete, measurable evidence. But it is not always “material evidence,” “the evidence of the eye.” The lesson science teaches is the pitfall of fetishizing past means of seeing, the kinds of things that have convinced us thus far. It is a primitive thinker who models the world on our present and standard abilities to perceive, and who presumes to know the means of testing for x before he has even considered what nature x might have.
July 17, 200917 yr You caught my attention there. At the very least there is rudimentary scientific evidence of evolution. Without any evidence, to me, the belief in God is solely defined in faith. There's evidence all around us that God exists. We're living in his creation. You just choose to belive (by faith) that this all started with a big bang... I believe (by faith) that God created it all...
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