[K T Ong]

Just thought I'd add my thoughts...

To go back to the original question of this thread, is science a religion?

I say it depends on how you define religion -- and for that matter how you define science as well. The Hierophant (on page 1 of this thread) said as much.

Perchance one may venture a definition of religion as a body of beliefs and convictions regarding the world and human life, which serves as a guide for thought and conduct. If we go by this definition of religion, then it would seem to me that contemporary Western science is a religion indeed, because it clearly subscribes to certain fundamental beliefs and convictions regarding the universe, one of which is that there is order and regularity in the universe, that all things in the universe follow definite laws of nature. After all, isn't science all about finding out what these laws are? And would you devote so much of your energy and resources (look at all the funding for scientific research) to finding out about something you don't believe in?

Perhaps some may object that my definition of religion leaves out an important point, namely that the beliefs and convictions that constitute a religion are supposed to be unprovable. They can't be proven either in a stepwise, logical manner (as in proving Pythagoras' Theorem) or by hard, empirical data (as when I put a live dinosaur in front of people to show them that dinosaurs actually exist -- if I can find a live dinosaur, that is). Well, even if we allow for that, science still looks like a religion to me. Just tell me how you're going to prove to me that there is order and regularity in the universe, that all things in the universe follow definite laws of nature. Through logical argumentation? Impossible. Via empirical observation? Not possible, either. It comes down to faith. This in fact also holds true for all the 'proofs' and 'evidence' which science prides itself on: they all ultimately rest on certain propositions for which there is no proof -- propositions such as 'all things in the universe follow definite laws of nature'. The Hierophant could not have said it better. You just have to accept those propositions on the basis of faith -- or, if you prefer (as I do), intuition.

Face it -- science is a religion. As are capitalism and communism for that matter.

[ 06-25-2002, 05:26 AM: Message edited by: K T Ong ]