Posted by
Far_view on Saturday, November 24, 2007 2:40:16 PM
Here is an interesting piece by Paul Davies talking about science and faith. I don't know that I agree with him when he says:
"Clearly,
then, both religion and science are founded on faith — namely, on
belief in the existence of something outside the universe, like an
unexplained God or an unexplained set of physical laws, maybe even a
huge ensemble of unseen universes, too."
I reject Davies
assertion that science is founded on "faith". Scientists want proof for
everything. There are unexplained aspects of our understanding of the
natural world. As Davies points out, we don't know why many of the
physical laws and constants of the universe are what they are. Maybe
they were set by God. To believe that would be an act of faith, but to
accept those constants and laws as being true is not an act of faith it
is an act justified by decades to centuries of observation and
experimentation. Basically when science encounters something that can
not yet be explained, the proper response should be "we don't know". To
do otherwise is speculation and speculation leads to assertions that
must be taken on, yes, faith.