03 May 2020

Science vs Religion II

"The belief in science has replaced in large measure, the belief in God. Even where religion was regarded as compatible with science, it was modified by the mentality of the believer in scientific truth." (Hans Reichenbach, "The Rise of Scientific Philosophy", 1951)

"Religion and science are the two conjugated faces of phases of one and the same act of complete knowledge - the only one which can embrace the past and future of evolution so as to contemplate, measure and fulfill them." (Pierre T de Chardin, "The Phenomenon of Man", 1959)

"Science, philosophy and religion are bound to converge as they draw nearer to the whole." (Pierre T de Chardin, "The Phenomenon of Man", 1959)

"Scientists seek the lawfulness of events. It is the task of Religion to fit man into this lawfulness." (Frank Herbert, "Dune", 1965)

"The laws of nature 'discovered' by science are merely mathematical or mechanical models that describe how nature behaves, not why, nor what nature 'actually' is. Science strives to find representations that accurately describe nature, not absolute truths. This fact distinguishes science from religion." (George O Abell, "Exploration of the Universe", 1969)

"The mystery of sound is mysticism; the harmony of life is religion. The knowledge of vibrations is metaphysics, the analysis of atoms is science, and their harmonious grouping is art. The rhythm of form is poetry, and the rhythm of sound is music. This shows that music is the art of arts and the science of all sciences; and it contains the fountain of all knowledge within itself." (Inayat Khan, "The Mysticism of Sound and Music", 1996)

"To look at the development of physics since Newton is to observe a struggle to define the limits of science. Part of this process has been the intrusion of scientific methods and ideas into domains that have traditionally been the province of metaphysics or religion. In this conflict, Hawking’s phrase ‘to know the Mind of God’ is just one example of a border infringement. But by playing the God card, Hawking has cleverly fanned the flames of his own publicity, appealing directly to the popular allure of the scientist-as-priest."  (Peter Coles, "Hawking and the Mind of God", 2000)

"Zero is powerful because it is infinity’s twin. They are equal and opposite, yin and yang. They are equally paradoxical and troubling. The biggest questions in science and religion are about nothingness and eternity, the void and the infinite, zero and infinity. The clashes over zero were the battles that shook the foundations of philosophy, of science, of mathematics, and of religion. Underneath every revolution lay a zero - and an infinity." (Charles Seife, "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea", 2000)

"Religion claims to help us understand things about the universe, but, unlike science has no way to test or verify its claims. Both science and religion compete to understand reality, but only science has the method to verify its findings, while religion merely buttresses emotional and epistemic commitments made in advance, commitments impervious to evidence." (Jerry Coyne, 2015)

"Much of the history of science, like the history of religion, is a history of struggles driven by power and money. And yet, this is not the whole story. Genuine saints occasionally play an important role, both in religion and science. For many scientists, the reward for being a scientist is not the power and the money but the chance of catching a glimpse of the transcendent beauty of nature." (Freeman J Dyson)

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