Critical Mass of Science Denial / Ignorance

[Michael]

I am a scientist. I have never met one that elevated it to the point of religion.

I sure have.

 

[Michael]

Examples? Where in "science" is there magical overtones?

Besides "big bang" creation mythology?

 

[VirOptimus]

Besides "big bang" creation mythology?

Please, no eu spamming.

And no, there is no magic in the big bang theory.

 

[Michael]

Please, no eu spamming.

And no, there is no magic in the big bang theory.

Who me? I didn't say a word about anything other than a topic where supposed "science" becomes utterly indistinguishable from 'dark magic'.

 

[Goonie]

Like many others here, I suspect, I am disturbed by the evidence of relatively widespread ignorance of science as well as, perhaps more sinisterly, the outright distrust of the findings of science. In this regard, I wonder about a "critical mass" effect - if enough people believe enough wacky things, they need no longer feel ashamed of their views and, yes, may even revel in their ignorance and off-kilter thinking. In short, if enough people believe wonky stuff, there is an illusion of "power in numbers": we can't all be wrong in thinking that global warming is a massive conspiracy, or that evolution violates the laws of thermodynamics - you name it.

Perhaps if we whittle away enough people from the herd of the ignorant, the rest of the herd will dissipate (since it would then be effectively below the critical mass).

Indeed, reading the climate change thread http://www.christianforums.com/thre...smashes-records.7947264/page-15#post-69648018
This is readily apparent

 

[Chris B]

Who worships science?

Human beings are capable of turning almost anything, even the most unsuitable or unlikely of objects/entities into a religion.
For science, suspect anyone who spells it "Science" and holds this quasi-deity beyond all question or critique in its pronouncements.
(see also "Vegan", "Evolution", and a range of other terms. I once met a teenager who had the internet as his object of exaltation, but that was many years ago.)

 

[lesliedellow]

I am a scientist. I have never met one that elevated it to the point of religion.

Peter Atkins.

 

[AV1611VET]

Examples? Where in "science" is there magical overtones?

I have a whole thread on this.

Where you been?

 

[AV1611VET]

A bad translation.

And the witch of Endor?

Is that No True Scotsman as well?

 

[AV1611VET]

And Arthur C. Clarke has and explanation for you in regards to rather uneducated people:

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

http://www.clarkefoundation.org/about-sir-arthur/sir-arthurs-quotations/

To those without any science training at all today's science may look like magic. If you actually studied it you would see that it is just an application of the laws of nature.

I'm more interested in Adam Clarke than Arthur Clarke.

 

[AV1611VET]

Human beings are capable of turning almost anything, even the most unsuitable or unlikely of objects/entities into a religion.

Correct.

That's what they did with the Nehushtan, the serpent in the wilderness.

 

[Colter]

There are witches in the Hebrews Bible, God for instance is said to have put a curse on the whole world. Each time a women delivers a baby, her pains are more severe due to the so called curse that God put on all women as the result of Eves sin.

 

[JackRT]

There are witches in the Hebrews Bible, God for instance is said to have put a curse on the whole world. Each time a women delivers a baby, her pains are more severe due to the so called curse that God put on all women as the result of Eves sin.

There are only two curses in the Genesis creation myth and neither one are on the woman.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Like many others here, I suspect, I am disturbed by the evidence of relatively widespread ignorance of science as well as, perhaps more sinisterly, the outright distrust of the findings of science. In this regard, I wonder about a "critical mass" effect - if enough people believe enough wacky things, they need no longer feel ashamed of their views and, yes, may even revel in their ignorance and off-kilter thinking. In short, if enough people believe wonky stuff, there is an illusion of "power in numbers": we can't all be wrong in thinking that global warming is a massive conspiracy, or that evolution violates the laws of thermodynamics - you name it.

Perhaps if we whittle away enough people from the herd of the ignorant, the rest of the herd will dissipate (since it would then be effectively below the critical mass).

If you look at my sig, it comes from a great book called Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free. For those who have sigs turned off, it goes like this:

The three great premises of Idiot America, according to Charles P. Pierce:

Premise 1: Any theory is valid if it sells books, soaks up ratings, or otherwise moves units.
Premise 2: Anything can be true if someone says it loudly enough.
Premise 3: Fact is that which enough people believe. Truth is determined by how fervently they believe it.

Worshiping ignorance is not a new phenomenon, but the rise of television and the Internet has caused it to grow exponentially... combined with a society which has exchanged (not mistaken... exchanged) truth for popularity, and the results are more or less what you see around you.

 

[Colter]

There are only two curses in the Genesis creation myth and neither one are on the woman.

On women going forward:


To the woman he said,


“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.


It was a genetic consequence of the sin.

 

[TLK Valentine]

I have a whole thread on this.

Where you been?

You mean that wasn't a joke thread?

 

[AV1611VET]

You mean that wasn't a joke thread?

No it wasn't.

 

[TLK Valentine]

No it wasn't.

Go on... soon you'll be telling us that none of them are...

 

[RickG]

Then what's this?

Exodus 22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

Do you seriously believe in witches?

 

[AV1611VET]

Go on... soon you'll be telling us that none of them are...

I admitted to two threads of mine being jokes:

1. The one about the Ark being a periscope.
2. The one about Nero blaming Christians for reversing the earth's axis.

Remember, professor?