Science is not Reality
sci·ence /ˈsaɪəns/ [sahy-uhns]
–noun
1. a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws: the mathematical sciences.
2. systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation.
3. any of the branches of natural or physical science.
4. systematized knowledge in general.
5. knowledge, as of facts or principles; knowledge gained by systematic study.
6. a particular branch of knowledge.
7. skill, esp. reflecting a precise application of facts or principles; proficiency.
There is a myth I've been coming across in one blog after another that equates science with reality. It is possible to have overlap between the two, but they are never the exact same thing. Reality is the way things are. Science is the way we think things are.
Right off, if anyone is going to use proper English, to say that your beliefs are based on science is absurd. That is because many people throughout the world have reached many conflicting scientific conclusions. To claim that your beliefs are based on science is to say that the foundation for your beliefs is contradictory.
But I don't think most people are using the proper English definition of the word "science" anymore. When people refer to "science" they are referring to some implied subdivisions of science; not the collective views of all scientists but the views of specific scientists. Most commonly, I've found that when people refer to science, they are referring to popular opinion. Popular opinion should not be underestimated and should be carefully weighed, but just because a large number of people believe a fact does not change reality. There was a time when practically everyone believed the world was flat, and yet that did not make it so.
Science is always changing because people keep aquiring new data that shows that previous theories were innacurate. Reality never changes, but science is always changing. With that in mind, should a person be so confident in claiming science as the foundation for their beliefs?
I've been browsing the web for various people's responses to the movie Expelled. Whether or not Intelligent Design or Evolution are viable beliefs, I'm amazed at the number of people who are against the movie and yet prove it's central point. People have become so entrenched in their own worldviews that they equate that with reality. Evolutionists are not the only people who have ever ceased to question their own perspectives, Creationists througout history have done that as well, but that fact does not mitigate the responsibility of the present scientific establishment.
(As a quick clarification of my title, even though science and reality are not the same thing, science is still a part of reality. Even if someone were to believe a lie, in one sense that lie would still be a very real, genuine lie. So whether or not a scientific conclusion lines up with reality, science is still very real if understood within its context of being a classification of human knowledge.)
–noun
1. a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws: the mathematical sciences.
2. systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation.
3. any of the branches of natural or physical science.
4. systematized knowledge in general.
5. knowledge, as of facts or principles; knowledge gained by systematic study.
6. a particular branch of knowledge.
7. skill, esp. reflecting a precise application of facts or principles; proficiency.
There is a myth I've been coming across in one blog after another that equates science with reality. It is possible to have overlap between the two, but they are never the exact same thing. Reality is the way things are. Science is the way we think things are.
Right off, if anyone is going to use proper English, to say that your beliefs are based on science is absurd. That is because many people throughout the world have reached many conflicting scientific conclusions. To claim that your beliefs are based on science is to say that the foundation for your beliefs is contradictory.
But I don't think most people are using the proper English definition of the word "science" anymore. When people refer to "science" they are referring to some implied subdivisions of science; not the collective views of all scientists but the views of specific scientists. Most commonly, I've found that when people refer to science, they are referring to popular opinion. Popular opinion should not be underestimated and should be carefully weighed, but just because a large number of people believe a fact does not change reality. There was a time when practically everyone believed the world was flat, and yet that did not make it so.
Science is always changing because people keep aquiring new data that shows that previous theories were innacurate. Reality never changes, but science is always changing. With that in mind, should a person be so confident in claiming science as the foundation for their beliefs?
I've been browsing the web for various people's responses to the movie Expelled. Whether or not Intelligent Design or Evolution are viable beliefs, I'm amazed at the number of people who are against the movie and yet prove it's central point. People have become so entrenched in their own worldviews that they equate that with reality. Evolutionists are not the only people who have ever ceased to question their own perspectives, Creationists througout history have done that as well, but that fact does not mitigate the responsibility of the present scientific establishment.
(As a quick clarification of my title, even though science and reality are not the same thing, science is still a part of reality. Even if someone were to believe a lie, in one sense that lie would still be a very real, genuine lie. So whether or not a scientific conclusion lines up with reality, science is still very real if understood within its context of being a classification of human knowledge.)
Labels: God and Evolution
posted by Chris Johnson at
12:24 PM
2 Comments:
The last point I made in that post could be summarized as: Science is not reality, but it is very real.
Science is the study of reality.
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