Carl R. Woese (1928–2012)

نویسنده

  • W. Ford Doolittle
چکیده

The relation between science and religion is often discussed in the media — what are your views? For the large majority of scientists, religion has no direct impact on their research and this is not an issue that concerns them. But I don’t believe that we should pretend that science and religion are ‘compatible’: they are actually diametrically opposed ways of thinking and acquiring knowledge. Science is revealing the incredible beauty of the world by a simple formula: the rational application of our communal common sense. In contrast, religion ultimately justifies its propositions on the basis of an individuals faith without reference to evidence, and so it is essentially anti-intellectual. Science is promulgated by our instincts to question and enquire while the different religions are promulgated by our needs for community and comforting formulas which get around death as the end of an individuals existence. Of course, science and religion can coexist (and often do in the same person), but this is more likely evidence of the agility of the human brain than, as some hopefully claim, because they deal with separate areas of understanding. The rational approach to acquiring knowledge and understanding has told us much more about what it is to be human than any religious book, and I think that all the evidence indicates that this will continue in the future. I understand that polls of professional scientists indicate that many share broadly similar views to mine, but most shy away from publicly airing them because they don’t want to be accused of being confrontational or intolerant. But the fundamental incompatibility of scientific and religious thinking is too important to skirt around and I am uncomfortable when professional scientists play along with those who try to pretend that there is no problem. Thank God for the likes of Richard Dawkins and Steve Jones, who have the patience and commitment to engage in these discussions on behalf of those of us who value rationalism and scepticism. If Dawkins didn’t exist we would have to invent him.

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عنوان ژورنال:
  • Current Biology

دوره 23  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2013