Monday, November 27, 2006
Faith is not Science and Science is not Faith or is It?
Webster's says the following about faith:
Etymology: Middle English feith, from Anglo-French feid, fei, from Latin fides; akin to Latin fidere to trust.
1 a : allegiance to duty or a person : LOYALTY b (1) : fidelity to one's promises (2) : sincerity of intentions
2 a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust
Context is very important. In the context that I write about I'm referring to the etymological root: "to trust". Following that is now the Webster's definition of trust:
Etymology: Middle English, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse traust trust; akin to Old English trEowe faithful -- more at TRUE
1 a : assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something b : one in which confidence is placed
So following this definition leads us to true:
Etymology: Middle English trewe, from Old English trEowe faithful; akin to Old High German gitriuwi faithful, Old Irish derb sure, and probably to Sanskrit dAruna hard, dAru wood -- more at TREE
1 a : STEADFAST, LOYAL b : HONEST, JUST c archaic : TRUTHFUL
2 a (1) : being in accordance with the actual state of affairs "true description" (2) : conformable to an essential reality (3) : fully realized or fulfilled
3 a : properly so called "true love"
4 :
5 a : that is fitted or formed or that functions accurately b : conformable to a standard or pattern :
In the context of which I refer, true is something that accurate and consistent. But accurate and consistent according to what standard or reference? It seems that the key is the consistent portion of the definition. Repeatable. So looking at the words we use to define faith it seems to boil down to this statement: Faith is to believe in something that is consistent. Again another definition, for consistent:
Etymology: Latin consistent-, consistent, present participle of consistere
1 archaic : possessing firmness or coherence
2 a : marked by harmony, regularity, or steady continuity : free from variation or contradiction "a consistent style in painting"
Hmm, free from variation or contradiction. Seemingly, then to be consistent is to have a repeatable test to prove that the attributes remain the same in each test. Gee, that is science.
Scientist have faith in the tests that they perform. That they can "see" with their eyes, and sense with their other physical inputs into their brain: Touch, hearing, smell, vision, and taste. So science relies only on these five input devices to determine what us true...for them.
I consider myself a scientist and a person who has faith. You can't be a scientist without faith. Faith in your instruments of measure. When you go outside of the Earth off into outer space then not all of those instruments operate as expected on Earth. Context again.
Science disregards emotions. So rarely do scientist think about them. Psychology is not considered a "pure science"; instead it is a "social science". Many people think that it is a science. In academic circles it is not a "pure science". Most people tend to have picture of a "pure scientist" in their head when science is mentioned. Psychology deals with the mind which of course includes the emotions.
The most interesting aspect of the fight between faith and science is that science doesn't realize that faith is required to be a scientist, and religion doesn't realize that it needs to apply scientific principles to it's dogma to find and keep the truth. If religion would do this, then they would all resolve to the same conclusions and hence a single view of religion.
Science and religion simply don't have the answers that people really need.
There is circumstantial evidence for religion and religious faith, but not proof that can be detected with the five senses that science uses. Science can't depend on it's current set of conclusions because have new discoveries that dis-prove scientific absolutes. People are drawn to religion because they can base their lives on the absolutes that religion provides them.
They real truth is there are no absolutes. Gravity has been part of the Earth since it's formation. Someday our sun will go super-nova and the Earth will be destroyed. It will probably be in billions of years, but it will happen. It is an absolute...maybe.
Hence, the only way to live is to have "faith" that generally things work out most of the time for the best for yourself. Life is just a roll of the dice on the craps table. It works pretty good as long as you bet on 6 and 8. 7 and 11 are higher risk. I guess that is why gambling is so popular throughout the world. Las Vegas is the real spiritual center of the world.
