Is Science a Religion?

Science is a method, a way of proceeding.It is not a religion, which involves a priori beliefs in supernatural forces.Your own description of science, imperfect though it is, acknowledges it as a method. Your conclusion thus does not follow from the statements that precede it.___

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

Now that the question posed in the OP has been answered, I wonder if we might entertain a more interesting question related to this topic.Why does this dead 'science is religion' canard get trotted out all the time? It scores no points in debate. Why is it so important to some people to assert this?I submit that this tired bit of blarney nourishes at least three illusions:

1. The illusion of equal footing. Two sets of conditioned beliefs duking it out is one thing. It's another when you have a set of conditioned beliefs on one side and a set of genuine discoveries on the other.

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2. The illusion of understanding scientists. This is a comforting illusion to a person who has no clue, really, what makes them tick.

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3. The illusion that scientists are godless. The scientific method limits itself to natural explanations. If you can persuade yourself that the method is a 'religion' you may safely regard all scientists as godless by choice. This allows one to ignore the truth: scientists very often profess real religions--Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism--even as they go about their research.

__Edited by Archer Opterix, : Clarity.Edited by Archer Opterix, : typo repair.Edited by Archer Opterix, : typo repair.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

Please give the responses your serious consideration, OM. Your statement really is a mess.I just want to correct one common misconception. Please do not make this mistake again. Please be so kind as to correct anyone else you see making it. You will be making the world a better place. This statement confuses a naturalistic method with a naturalistic philosophy. The two are not the same.Scientists use their method the way parliamentarians use rules of order. It offers a way to proceed and get the work done. The scientific method is not a religion any more than Robert's Rules of Order is a Bible. Once the experiments are done and the meetings are adjourned, you'll find scientists and parliamentarians showing as much variety in their personal belief systems as specialists in any other field do.Science does not 'believe in' a world that does this or that. It asks.The method is practical. Scientists use a procedure based on sensory observations, experiment and quantifiable data because experience shows this method to be productive. It cures diseases. It helps us devise useful inventions.A naturalistic philosophy, on the other hand, is the thing you describe. It is the belief that the natural world is all there is. The belief is not science.Now please satisfy my curiosity about something.Why is it important to you to think science is a religion?____Edited by Archer Opterix, : clarity, typo repair.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

No, religion seeks to ascribe meaning to human existence.It does so through a system of belief involving supernatural forces and communal ritual. These latter elements are generally what distinguish a religion from a philosophy, which also explores meaning.Some religions say a lot about the universe but some could not care less. Some say it isn't even real.___Edited by Archer Opterix, : HTML.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

Now you're making sense. Too bad you can't sustain it.Science is not a religion, you say--except that it must be one because Rob can imagine no other possibility. It's a religion, you say, even though it isn't.This is argument from incredulity and self-contradiction. Not very compelling.The rest is just assuming a nonstandard definition of 'religion' to argue for your nonstandard definition of 'science.'Someone has sold you a bill of goods that any human thought process whatever is some sort of 'religion.' Not so. See the earlier posts on this thread for more information about this.__Edited by Archer Opterix, : HTML.Edited by Archer Opterix, : typo repair.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.